Amazon.com Tops Q3 Views, Shares Surge

Shares of

jumped over 12 percent in after-hours trading after the company reported a surprise profit for the third quarter on Thursday. The Seattle, Washington-based company reported a quarterly profit of $79 million, or $0.17 per share, versus a year-ago loss of $437 million, or $0.95 per share. Its total net sales climbed 23.2 percent to $25.36 billion. However, analysts were expecting a loss of $0.13 per share on revenue of $24.91 billion. The average estimate among 359 Estimize users was for a loss of $0.04 per share and revenue of $24.92 billion. Its operating income for the latest quarter came in at $406 million, versus operating loss of $544 million in the year-ago quarter. For the fourth quarter, Amazon.com expects net sales of $33.50 billion to $36.75 billion and operating income of $80 million to $1.28 billion. Amazon.com shares jumped 12.51 percent to $634.46 in the after-hours trading session.