Amazon Q218: Amazon sales are up 37%

Tonight saw the reporting Amazon Q218 and they are strong. And remember they don’t even include the uplift and frenzy that was Amazon Prime Day 2018, not much more than a week ago.

Amazon net sales increased 39% to $52.9 billion in the second quarter, compared with $38.0 billion in the same period of 2017. Excluding the $760 million ‘favorable’ impact from year-over-year changes in foreign exchange rates throughout the quarter, net sales increased 37% compared with second quarter 2017. By any measure, and with any perspective, it’s astonishing that the company’s sales (much of which will be made by SMEs, Merchants and 3P sellers) has seen such an uplift in such a short time.

Revenues and income are both up too. Operating income increased to $3.0 billion in the second quarter, compared with operating income of $628 million in second quarter 2017. Net income increased to $2.5 billion in the second quarter, or $5.07 per diluted share, compared with net income of $197 million, or $0.40 per diluted share, in second quarter 2017.

You can read the full release here from Amazon Q218 results and quite a number of aspects do jump out to a seasoned observer. It’s here.

Firstly the scale of Amazon, whether it’s Alexa or AWS, is huge and the number of initiative and plans outlined in the report are numerous, variety and ambitious. Many will fail but others will be be hugely successful. That’s the Amazon approach that’s rather daring. Fortune favours the brave.

We’re not financial analysts and these reports are complex so it’s always worth pointing you towards experts:

CNBC: Amazon misses on revenue but earnings came in more than double what the Street expected.

Venturebeat: Amazon revenue grows 39% to $52.9 billion in Q2 2018, AWS up 49%.

The Verge: Amazon’s hugely profitable quarter pushes it toward a $1 trillion valuation.