(Reuters) – Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O) on Thursday posted holiday quarter results well above expectations as the expansion of its one-day shipping program came under budget and membership in its Prime loyalty club notched a 50% rise in two years.
Shares soared as much as 13% in after-hours trade, putting the online retailer back in the $1 trillion market capitalization club. If the share gain holds on Friday, it will be the biggest daily jump for Amazon since October 2017.
Amazon also forecast operating income of up to $4.2 billion in the current quarter, down from $4.4 billion the year prior. Still, that appeared to assuage investor concerns about Amazon’s continued spending on fast delivery, which could have erased windfalls from e-commerce, advertising and cloud computing sales.
“We’re past the worst in terms of the margin pressure from the one-day shipping initiative,” said Atlantic Equities analyst James Cordwell. That and the “massively overstated” concerns about…
Source Reuters Tech News
Source link
