Amazon Posts Record Profits

Seattle-based Amazon.com Inc. has reported a record net income of $2.5 billion, a record single-quarter profit for the company. In the past three quarters, it has earned $6 billion in net income, just short of equaling its profits from the past 21 years, reports The Seattle Times.

Much of the retailer’s recent earnings boost comes by way of its diversification in recent years, including its growth in cloud-computing (Amazon Web Services) and its Marketplace. Its shares are up roughly 50 percent in this year alone.

The company’s CFO Brian Olsavsky said in a call with reporters that its gains are in large part due to its frugal sensibilities, and that the company is now coming out of a “very high investment period.” He added that it will now reevaluate its fixed headcount and shift employees around within the company to match its investment strategy, saying they will “reset and evaluate where [they] still need to add people.”

Amazon Prime pulled in $3.4 billion during the quarter, a 57 percent gain from last year. Its sales were $52.9 billion, up 39 percent.