Amazon reports higher sales and earnings for 3Q, helped by strong customer spending

Amazon posted higher fiscal third quarter profit and sales compared with a year ago, as the online giant kept attracting shoppers looking for good prices while inflation resurges

NEW YORK -- Amazon posted higher fiscal third quarter profit and sales compared with a year ago, as the online giant kept attracting shoppers looking for good prices while inflation resurges.

The results announced Thursday beat Wall Street expectations. The company's prominent cloud computing arm also surpassed analysts' expectations. But Amazon issued a cautious sales outlook for the fiscal fourth quarter, citing overall economic uncertainty and President Donald Trump's tariffs. But shares soared close to 9% in after-hours trading.

Amazon posted net income of $21.12 billion, or $1.95 per share, for the quarter ended Sept. 30. That's up from $15.33 billion, or $1.43 per share, a year ago.

Analysts had expected $1.57 per share for the quarter, according to FactSet.

Amazon’s sales rose to $180.2 billion, up from $158.88 billion in the year ago period.

Analysts had expected $177.91 billion, according to FactSet.

Amazon has announced it's cutting about 14,000 corporate jobs as it ramps up spending on artificial intelligence and cuts costs elsewhere. Teams and individuals impacted by the job cuts were notified Tuesday. Amazon has about 350,000 corporate employees and a total workforce of about 1.56 million. The cuts announced Tuesday amount to about a 4% reduction in its corporate workforce.

Analysts are dissecting Amazon's results to get insight into consumer behavior for the holiday shopping season and how Trump's tariffs are impacting prices.