Amazon Q3 Profit and Sales Miss Estimates; AWS Growth Hits 39.3%, Shares Fall 6%

Amazon reported third-quarter net income and sales below Wall Street expectations on Thursday, sending shares down more than 6% in after-market trading as investors focused on the core business, despite strong cloud growth. Net income was $20.69 billion, or $1.89 per share, versus $21.19 billion, or $1.95 per share, a year earlier. Sales rose to $201.94 billion from $180.17 billion. Analysts had expected $1.97 per share on sales of $202.2 billion, according to FactSet. AWS sales rose 39.3% in the quarter ended Sept. 30, up from 37% in the prior quarter and the unit's fastest growth in nearly five years. The Seattle-based company offered a cautious fiscal fourth-quarter outlook. Analysts will look for executives' comments on the holiday shopping season on Thursday's earnings call. Amazon said earlier this month it would hire 300,000 U.S. seasonal workers, up from 250,000 last year.