Amazon Soars Past Wall Street’s Q1 Profit Forecast, Hits Revenue Target

Amazon more than doubled its profits in the first quarter compared with the same period a year ago, while also clearing the high revenue bar set by Wall Street.

Earnings per share came in at $7.09 on a diluted basis, compared with $3.27 in the 2018 quarter. Analysts had expected $4.72 a share.

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Total revenue of $59.7 billion rose 17% over the same quarter in 2018, the smallest quarterly revenue increase since 2015. Profit margins, however, continue to grow fatter at the company, which for many years had confounded investors by pouring money back into its operations rather than booking a profit.

Among the long list of bullet points issued quarterly by the company were several items of particular interest to Hollywood and media types was that Fire TV now has more than 30 million active users.

The multi-faceted company also highlighted achievements for the quarter in Amazon Web Services, Alexa and its Whole Foods grocery unit.

Amazon stock has run up 28% this year. It closed essentially flat on Thursday at $1,902.25. The e-commerce giant, whose market capitalization reached $1 trillion last year along with Apple’s, has seen its stock pull back since then, but it remains the third-biggest firm in terms of market capitalization behind Microsoft and Apple.

The company has been in the news this spring for the $35 billion divorce settlement agreed to by Jeff and MacKenzie Bezos. Jeff Bezos, the world’s richest individual, remains the largest shareholder in Amazon. While the divorce negotiations were conducted in complete secrecy, the affair Bezos had wound up exposed by leaks to the National Enquirer. That prompted the executive to write a lengthy post on Medium about the chain of events.

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