Amazon's profit up 38% on strong sales

Amazon reported unexpectedly strong sales and profit on Thursday across both its consumer and its cloud businesses and said another robust quarter might be ahead.

- KAREN WEISE SEATTLE (NYT)

The company’s sales totalled $180.2 billion from July through September, up 13% from a year earlier. Profit was $21.2 billion, up 38%. The overall results were buoyed by the enduring strength of consumer spending online, despite tariffs and an uneven economy, and by a resurgence in cloud computing.

“We continue to see strong momentum and growth across Amazon as AI drives meaningful improvements in every corner of our business,” Andy Jassy, the CEO, said in a statement. He added that the company’s cloud services business had grown at its fastest pace since 2022.

The strong quarter, which beat analysts’ expectations, sent Amazon's stock soaring more than 10% in after-hours trading.

Amazon had previously warned investors to brace for an uncertain quarter, particularly regarding how much its costs might grow.