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Amazon.com Inc. said Thursday that its second-quarter income jumped, bolstered by shoppers who spent more with the online retailer even as consumer confidence fell overall.
But the Seattle-based company's earnings fell below analyst expectations, and its stock dove in after-hours trading.
For the April-June quarter, Amazon earned $207-million (U.S.), or 45 cents per share. That is a 45 per cent increase from $142-million, or 32 cents per share, in the same quarter last year.
Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters have been looking for 54 cents per share.
Revenue climbed 41 per cent to $6.6-billion, slightly beating analyst predictions for $6.5-billion in revenue.
The growth came mainly from sales of electronics and other general merchandise, which increased 69 per cent from last year to $3.5-billion. Revenue from books, CDs, DVDs and other media rose 18 per cent to $2.9-billion.
Revenue increased 46 per cent in North America to $3.6-billion, and 35 per cent to $3-billion elsewhere.
As usual, Amazon did not provide details about sales of its Kindle e-reader, which was joined in the second quarter by a formidable competitor, Apple Inc.'s iPad. In a statement, chief executive officer Jeff Bezos said Amazon is seeing "rapid growth" in Kindle sales, among other company offerings.
Earlier this week, Amazon did say that Kindle sales have risen since it cut its price in June. In an effort to push more Kindle sales, Amazon dropped the price of the Kindle by $70, to $189, just hours after Barnes & Noble Inc. said it would lower the price of its competing Nook e-reader by $60, to $199. Amazon also started selling the Kindle at Target stores.
In the current quarter, Amazon believes revenue will total $6.9-billion to $7.6-billion, which would mark growth of 27 per cent to 40 per cent over the third quarter of 2009. Analysts expect $7.1-billion in revenue.
The stock fell $16.68, or 13.9 per cent, in extended trading. Before the release of results, the stock rose $2.64, or 2.25 per cent, to close at $120.07.