The coronavirus pandemic has smiled down upon e-commerce giant Amazon, with its third-quarter profits tripling to $6.3 billion after strong retail sales and massive growth in cloud computing.
Profit increased by a whopping 300%, compared to last year’s $2.1 billion in the same quarter.
Overall revenues jumped by 37% to $96 billion for the retailer behemoth, a significant increase on the expected revenue of $92.7 billion which analysts predicted.
Amazon shares, which saw massive gains in the retail and cloud computing sector, dipped by 1% in the after-hours trading following the earnings announcement.
The staggering earnings – particularly in the midst of a global pandemic – comes as Big Tech companies are under scrutiny in the US and internationally for their growing dominance.
Amazon is also facing criticism over its treatment of third-party sellers on its website.
Google itself is facing a landmark anti-trust lawsuit regarding its alleged abuse of monopoly power by paying phone and computer manufacturers to feature its search engine.
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos used the earnings update to boast about the company raising its minimum wage.
“Two years ago, we increased Amazon’s minimum wage to $15 for all full-time, part-time, temporary, and seasonal employees across the US and challenged other large employers to do the same,” Bezos said.
“”We’re proud to have created over 400,000 jobs this year alone. We’re seeing more customers than ever shopping early for their holiday gifts, which is just one of the signs that this is going to be an unprecedented holiday season.”
