Amazon got off to a roaring start in 2018, posting a profit during the first three months of the year that easy surpassed analysts' expectations.
The Seattle retail giant on Thursday reported a profit of $3.27 a share during the three months ended in March, from $1.48 a share a year ago ago. Sales, including more than $4 billion contributed by Whole Foods Market stores that Amazon didn't own a year ago, surged 42 percent, to $51 billion.
Analysts had anticipated a profit of $1.25 a share, and revenue of $49.9 billion, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence.
Amazon, famous for posting slim profits as its invests in the expansion of new and existing businesses, posted net income of $1.6 billion, just shy of the $1.9 billion haul taken in during the 2017 holiday shopping season. It had a year-earlier profit of $724 million.
Sales by Amazon Web Services, the company's fast-growing unit that rents software and computing infrastructure to businesses, climbed 49 percent from a year earlier.
Amazon shares, which ended regular trading up 4 percent at $1,517.96, surged more than 6 percent in after-hours trading Thursday.
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