For years, Amazon emphasized growth over profits. But these days, it is enjoying both. The company just posted its fifth consecutive quarterly profit, and it was a doozy.
The retail titan saw second quarter sales climb 31 percent to $30.4 billion and recorded a profit of $857 million, or $1.78 a share. That makes the $92 million profit it recorded one year ago seem positively miniscule. Those figures easily beat Wall Street expectations and was on the higher side of Amazon's own projections.
Its cloud-computing arm, Amazon Web Services, was once again successful. Revenue grew 58 percent to $2.89 billion in Q2, compared to $1.82 billion one year ago. That’s slightly slower growth than previously seen, but it keeps Amazon on track to achieve CEO Jeff Bezos’ goal of $10 billion in sales for the year.
Epic profits aside, Amazon continues spending heavily. Its shipping operation remains one the biggest expenditures, climbing 44 percent to $3.36 billion. Amazon has diligently laid groundwork for an aggressive shipping and delivery network that it will fully control, an effort that includes everything from an air cargo network to a fleet of truck trailers. One report says Amazon is even testing drone delivery in the UK. And it continues to spend heavily on making great original shows.
Such efforts are in addition to the highly coordinated global network of warehouses and fulfillment centers the company operates. Bezos' goal is to get the blender or iPhone cable you ordered to your door, as if by magic. That magic can happen in as little as an hour if you are a member of Amazon Prime—a service that Bezos also proudly mentions just came to India. “It’s been a busy few months for Amazon around the world, and particularly in India,” he said in a statement. That growth will almost certainly lead to even greater profits. It seems the company's days of razor-thin margins could be over.
