Amazon Crushed Q1 Earnings

Amazon’s Q1 earnings are out, and it seems the eCommerce giant managed to beat analysts’ expectations across the board.

Revenue came in at $51.04 billion — well ahead of the $49.78 billion forecast by analysts. Earnings per share were $3.27 — more than double the $1.26 per share estimated. Amazon Web Services (AWS) clocked in with $5.44 billion in revenue, beating out the $5.24 analysts were looking for.

All in, Amazon’s revenue was up 43 percent over where it was this time last year, and North American revenue has climbed to 46 percent to $30.7 billion. International sales were up 34 percent to $14.8 billion.

But it was — as it has been in quarters’ past — AWS that acted as the virtual cash printing press, pushing growth across the organization. AWS was up 49 percent year over year during Q1, generating $1.4 billion in operating income. That represents about 73 percent of Amazon’s total income.

“AWS had the unusual advantage of a seven-year head start before facing like-minded competition, and the team has never slowed down,” said CEO Jeff Bezos on the earnings call. “As a result, the AWS services are by far the most evolved and most functionality-rich.”

Amazon continues to outperform the market with its stock — up over 20 percent this year.

Investors liked the totality of what they saw out of Amazon’s earnings: The eCommerce giant’s shares skyrocketed 7 percent in after-hours trading.