Amazon shares rose on cloud revenue flash and Rivian

Shares of Amazon.com Inc. soared more than 9% on Tuesday after beating sales expectations. It also reported a considerable profit from its stake in electric car maker Rivian Automotive Inc.

Shares of Rivian rose more than 5% on the news. The e-commerce giant also posted a massive profit beat, with a net income of $3.19 billion, up from $1.83 billion a year ago. The company said it expects to invest up to $1 billion in the cloud business in the current quarter. It should help to boost profits further. The investor response to the news follows a prolonged period of market volatility. It has forced investors to re-evaluate their assumptions about the economy.

Overview of the Amazon business and its shares

Amazon.com Inc. rose almost 9% on Thursday after reporting fourth-quarter revenue that handily beat expectations and after announcing plans to increase spending on its cloud business. The company also said it expects to invest up to $1 billion in the cloud business in the current quarter, which should help to boost profits further. The investor response to the news follows a prolonged period of market volatility, which has forced investors to re-evaluate their assumptions about the economy. Amazon shares have risen more than 40% over the past month.

Here are the key numbers:

• Earnings per share: $5.80 vs. $3.58 expected, according to a Refinitiv survey of analysts
• Revenue: $137.5 billion vs. $137.7 billion expected, according to a Refinitiv study by analysts
• AWS revenue: $17.9 billion vs. $17.38 billion expected, according to StreetAccount

Amazon guided for first-quarter revenue of between $113 billion and $118 billion, below the average estimate of $121 billion, according to Refinitiv. Operating profit in the fourth quarter will be in the range of $4 billion to $6 billion.

Fourth-quarter sales rose 9.5% to $137.5 billion. That ranked as Amazon’s first period of single-digit growth since the beginning of 2017.