By Joseph Pisani, Retail Writer
NEW YORK (AP) --Amazon's push into advertising and cloud computing is paying off, helping the online shopping giant's first quarter profit more than double from a year ago.
The Seattle-based company on Thursday reported net income of $3.56 billion, or $7.09 per share, for the first three months of the year.
That beat expectations of $4.61 per share, according to Zacks Investment Research. In the same time a year ago, it reported net income of $1.63 billion, or $3.27 per share.
Revenue rose 17% to $59.7 billion, which also beat Wall Street expectations.
At its cloud computing business, called Amazon Web Services, revenue soared 41%.
The company doesn't say exactly how much its advertising business makes. Instead it lists it as part of its "other" revenue, which jumped 34% from a year ago.
For the current quarter ending in July, Amazon said it expects revenue in the range of $59.5 billion to $63.5 billion. Analysts expected revenue of $62.53 billion.
Shares of Amazon.com Inc., which are up 27% so far this year, rose 1.6% to $1,933 in after-hours trading Thursday.
Elements of this story were generated by Automated Insights using data from Zacks Investment Research.
Jean Smart, Ariana Grande, Michael Keaton among hosts for “SNL” season 50
Fresh off her Emmys win, Jean Smart will kick off the landmark 50th season of "Saturday Night Live."
NBC on Thursday announced the lineup of hosts for the season, which premieres Sept. 28. Joining Smart on the first show will be Jelly Roll as the musical act. He was also at the Emmys, singing during the ceremony's in memoriam segment.
It will be Smart's first time hosting "SNL."
Comedian Nate Bargatze will host on Oct. 5, with Coldplay as the musical guest.
Ariana Grande will host Oct. 12, with musical guest Stevie Nicks.
"Beetlejuice" star Michael Keaton will host on Oct. 19, the last show before Halloween, and Billie Eilish will be that night's musical guest.
The host on Nov. 2 will be "SNL" alum John Mulaney, with breakout sensation Chappell Roan as the music guest.
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