Amazon quarterly profit jumps but shares slide

SAN FRANCISCO: Amazon said Thursday second-quarter profit jumped 48 percent from a year ago to $7.8 billion, but shares in the tech and e-commerce giant fell on a disappointing revenue number.

Total revenues increased 27 percent to $113.1 billion, below most Wall Street forecasts, sparking a slide of some seven percent in after-hours trading.

Amazon chief financial officer Brian Olsavsky said on an earnings call that a reason for missing revenue expectations appeared to be vaccines giving people the confidence to get back into action in the real world.

“Not only shopping offline but also living life and getting out,” Olsavsky said.