- Amazon’s stock price zips past $ 2, on Friday, gaining as much as 9.9%.
- The e-commerce giant reported much better than expected results for its holiday quarter, with sales and earnings crushing estimates.
- As Amazon shares surged, the technology sector and broader U.S. stock market plunged.
Shares of Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) surged on Friday after the e-commerce giant’s quarterly earnings report blew past expectations – a sign that its investment in faster delivery times was already paying off.
Amazon Stock Blows Past $ 2,
After gaining over . 5% in after-hours trading on Thursday, Amazon’s stock price opened sharply higher Friday morning. AMZN peaked at $ 2, a share, up 9.9% from the previous day’s close. At its current pace, the stock is on track to set new all-time highs.
The intraday rally pushed Amazon’s market capitalization back above $ 1 trillion, putting it in elite company alongside Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL), Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) and Google-parent Alphabet ( NASDAQ: GOOGL)
Amazon was one of the only bright spots in the U.S. stock market on Friday. The technology-focused Nasdaq Composite Index plunged 0.7%. The large-cap S&P Index was off almost 1 %, with losses spread out among eight sectors. Energy stocks were the hardest hit, falling 2.4% on average.
Stellar Earnings Report
The catalyst for Amazon’s record breakout was a much better than expected earnings report on Thursday. The Seattle-based company generated $ 6. in per-share earnings on revenue of $ . billion for the quarter ended December. Analysts in a median forecast were calling for an EPS of $ 4. (on revenue of $ billion.
A deep dive into the numbers revealed another stellar quarter for Amazon Web Services (AWS), the flagship cloud offering. AWS generated $ 9. 150 billion in revenue for the quarter, well above forecasts of $ 9. billion.
Amazon owns nearly half of the public cloud infrastructure market, according to Forbes
Amazon’s investment in one-day shipping also appears to be paying off, especially during the holidays when demand for faster delivery times is greatest. Amazon Prime – the program that offers one-day shipping – now has million subscribers.
Beyond the obvious growth drivers, Amazon appears keen on growing its advertising business at a time when companies like Facebook are under the political microscope. As MarketWatch reports , sales in Amazon’s “other” category, which includes advertising, grew % year-over-year.
Disclaimer: The above should not be considered trading advice from CCN.com. .
This article was edited by Josiah Wilmoth .
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