Amazon quarterly profit doubles as cloud business grows [Video]

Amazon reported Thursday its profit in the recently ended quarter doubled to $13.5 billion with the help of renewed momentum of its AWS cloud computing business.

The e-commerce giant’s sales of $148 billion fell just shy of lofty market expectations, however, and shares slid more than four percent to $176.50 in after-market trades.

“We’re continuing to make progress on a number of dimensions, but perhaps none more so than the continued reacceleration in AWS growth,” said Amazon chief executive Andy Jassy.

Revenue at the AWS cloud computing unit grew to $26.3 billion compared with $22.1 billion in the same period a year earlier, according to earnings figures.

The $12.7 billion taken in from ads on the platform was also shy of expectations, with the market predicting $13 billion.

Retail, ads and cloud computing are considered Amazon’s financial pillars.

“While Amazon has multiple levers it can pull, the outlook is becoming …