Amazon’s first-quarter results rose 18 per cent as shoppers continued to flock to the online mega retailer to buy goods. The results beat expectations and shares rose nearly two per cent in aftermarket trading. Amazon has long focused on spending the money it makes to grow its business and expand into new areas, from streaming movies to e-readers and even grocery delivery. On Wednesday, it launched Prime Pantry, a grocery delivery service for Prime members, and this month, it introd
uced its first set-top video streaming box called Amazon Fire that sells for $US99 ($A106.96).
Rumours of an Amazon phone have been swirling as well, but nothing has materialised.
“We get our energy from inventing on behalf of customers, and 2014 is off to a kinetic start,” chief executive Jeff Bezos said.
While investors have largely given Amazon a pass for focusing on growth and investing rather than turning a strong profit, Amazon has been making some moves to strengthen its bottom line.
It boosted its Prime two-day shipping membership program annual fee from $US79 to $US99 in March to offset higher shipping costs.
Shipping costs rose 31 per cent to $US1.83 billion ($A1.98 billion) during the quarter.
And to entice more people to sign up for the service at the $US99 price, which includes its streaming video service, on Tuesday the retailer said it had inked a deal with HBO to stream some of its older shows beginning May 21.
The news was a coup for Amazon.
HBO has steadfastly refused to license its programming to other streaming services such as Netflix or Hulu.
In a media call, executives did not give specifics but said renewals were exceeding expectations.
Net income for the quarter rose to $US108 million, or 23 US cents a share. That compares with net income of $US82 million, or 18 US cents a share in 2013. Analysts expected 21 US cents a share, according to FactSet.
Revenue rose 23 per cent to $US19.74 billion from $US16.07 billion. Analysts expected $US19.42 billion.
In fiscal 2014, the company expects revenue of $US18.1 billion to $US19.8 billion. Analysts expect $US19.01 billion.
In aftermarket trading, shares rose $US6.35, or 1.9 per cent, to $US343.50, after closing the day up nearly four per cent at $US337.15. The stock reached a record high of $US408.06 on January 22. Since then, it has dropped 17 per cent.
AP
