It's still a pandemic and Amazon seems to be the right kind of company for the times.
Amazon earnings shot up 215%, racing past estimates, and it posted revenues of $108.52 billion for the first quarter this year, Business Insider reported Friday.
Few companies have benefited from the pandemic-fueled increase in online shopping as much as Amazon. While the e-commerce company also guided higher, its first-quarter results showed its business continues to be buoyed by the crisis.
The Seattle, Washington-based company issued a rosy forecast before its earnings report, underscoring the company's outlook of robust sales amid more vaccine rollout and economic recovery.
Almost every facet of the pandemic has served to boost Amazon's revenues, from grocery delivery to video streaming. The COVID-19 situation could herald "a golden age" for the company, one analyst said.
Amazon's guidance for the second quarter implies that it anticipates the momentum to continue, which should help ease investor jitters that business could slow in a post-pandemic condition, CNBC said.
Amazon's total revenue soared 44% year over year from $75.5 billion, while its web services sales climbed by 32% from $10.22 billion. Profits grew to $8.1 billion, more than tripling the $2.5 billion it reported in the first quarter of 2020.
"In just 15 years, AWS has become a $54 billion yearly sales run business competing against the world's biggest technology companies, and its growth is accelerating," Insider quoted Amazon chief executive officer Jeff Bezos as saying in a statement.
Bezos underscored the streaming service Prime Video and AWS, and said he was "proud to have them in the family," BBC reported.
Amazon does not disclose advertising revenue, but it's included in the company's "Other" category, which saw its sales soar 77% year over year to almost $7 billion.
Amazon said its annual Prime Day mega sale event would be returning in the summertime after being rescheduled to October last year because of disruption from COVID-19. The company expects the return to bolster its second-quarter profits, which Amazon expected to reach between $110 billion and $116 billion.
Meanwhile, Bezos is stepping down as CEO this summer, though he will remain in the less active role of executive chairman. Andy Jassy, AWS chief executive, will succeed him as CEO.
