Consumer spending, streaming propel Amazon to second straight quarter of more than $100B in revenue

Andy Jassy: His journey to replacing Jeff Bezos as Amazon’s CEOAndy Jassy is the head of Amazon Web Services and will be replacing Jeff Bezos to become the company’s next CEO in Q3. Here’s what you need to know.Just the FAQs, USA TODAYAmazon shoppers bought more products and streamed more video during the first three months of the year, propelling the online retailing giant to first-quarter sales of $108.5 billion.Amazon’s total sales rose 44%, with spending on products accounting for four-fifths of revenue. Subscription services including Amazon Prime, now with 200 million members, rose 36% to $7.6 billion.More than 175 million Prime members streamed shows and movies in the past year, and hours streamed rose more than 70%, compared to a year ago, noted Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos – who will step down as CEO this summer.Amazon Prime – at $119 annually for free delivery on many orders, video and music streaming and other perks – is now 10 years old, Bezos said, while Amazon Web Services, is 15, Bezos said. AWS revenue rose 32% to $13.5 billion.”After years of being nurtured, they’re growing up fast and coming into their own,” Bezos said.Amazon: Is retailer recommending books on QAnon and white nationalism?Now accepting reader submissions: Creating a gaming community at USA TODAYConsumers reliance on Amazon’s services resulted in a blowout quarter that mirrored similar results reported Wednesday by Apple, which posted $89.6 billion in revenue, a 54% increase over a year ago.Amazon’s profit more than tripled from a year ago, fueled by the growth of online shopping. It was also the second straight quarter in which Amazon posted revenue of more than $100 billion.The trend is expected to continue based on Amazon’s forecast for the current April-June quarter. Second quarter sales are forecast at $110 billion to $116 billion, an increase of 24% or 30%, compared to a year ago.Prime Day saleAmazon will also hold its annual Prime Day sale in June, the company said, but did not announce a specific date. Last year, Amazon delayed the sale, which typically occurred in July until October amid the coronavirus pandemic.Amazon is one of the few retailers that has benefited during the pandemic. As physical stores temporarily closed, people stuck at home turned to Amazon to buy groceries, cleaning supplies and more. That doesn’t seem to be dying down.In the first three months of this year, the company reported profit of $8.1 billion, compared to $2.5 billion the year before. Earnings per share came to $15.79, about $6 more per share than what Wall Street analysts expected, according to FactSet.Evolution of unions: How Millennials are reviving the labor movementFrom Amazon workers to teachers to millennials in tech, unions are gaining in popularity. Here’s how unions started and where they’re headed.Just the FAQs, USA TODAYShares of Amazon hit an all-time high of more than $3,591 in after-hours trading. The stock rose more than 3% after the market’s close and is up 9% for the year.Amazon said Wednesday that it plans to give more than 500,000 of its workers a raise as it seeks to attract new workers. The online shopping giant, which already pays new hires at least $15 an hour, said it will start increasing pay between 50 cents an hour to $3 an hour starting next month.Contributing: The Associated Press.Follow Mike Snider on Twitter: @MikeSnider.


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