Los Angeles, April 28, (dpa/GNA) – US retail giant Amazon started the new financial year with a surprisingly significant increase in sales despite high inflation and economic concerns.
In the first quarter, net sales grew by 9% year-on-year to $127.4 billion, Amazon said on Thursday after the US stock market closed.
Operating income increased by around 30% to $4.8 billion. Shares rose more than 10% in after-hours trading.
Revenues of Amazon Web Services (AWS), Amazon’s cloud service division, increased by 16% to $21.4 billion, above analysts’ expectations.
The targets for the current quarter also exceeded market expectations. Amazon is expecting net sales of $127-$133 billion, a 5%-10% increase year-on-year. Operating income is expected to be between $2 billion and
The first quarter was marked by major job cuts at Amazon. In March, the retail giant announced that it would lay off a further 9,000 employees having already cut 18,000 jobs.
Amazon boss Andy Jassy is moving forward in his efforts to reduce costs after big spending amid the pandemic online ordering boom.
Operating expenses increased in the first quarter by just under 9% – the lowest increase in at least ten years.
The North American business had an operating income of about $900 million – compared to an operating loss of $1.6 billion a year ago – and was in the black for the first time since 2021.
GNA