Amazon shares surged 11% as it unveiled strong results for its first quarter ending March 31, 2023.
Operating income increased almost 30% to $4.8 billion in the first quarter as its cost-cutting measure, including laying off 27,000 workers paid off.
The ecommerce behemoth reported a 9% net sales increase to $127.4 billion in the first quarter, ahead of expectations. Excluding the foreign exchange impact, the increase would amount to 11%.
Jassy added: “There’s a lot to like about how our teams are delivering for customers, particularly amidst an uncertain economy.
“Our stores business is continuing to improve the cost to serve in our fulfillment network while increasing the speed with which we get products into the hands of customers. We expect to have our fastest Prime delivery speeds ever in 2023.”
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Amazon Web Services (AWS) net sales also exceeded estimates, at $21.4 billion. Despite that, the unit only grew by 16% during the first quarter, much slower than 37% reported a year earlier.
Amazon shares were up by over 10% in the wake of the results.
Jassy had previously expressed confidence that cost-cutting measures will pay off in a letter to shareholders.
Amazon’s results came a day after Meta exceeded forecasts for its first quarter.
