Any lingering questions about whether Amazon can be profitable were put to rest with the release of its second quarter results. For the quarter ended June 30, operating income increased to $3.0 billion, compared with operating income of $628 million in the second quarter of 2017. Net income jumped to $2.5 billion, from net income of $197 million in last year's second quarter.
The earnings gains came on a 39% revenue gain, to $52.9 billion.
Sales through its online store rose 14% in the quarter, to $27.2 billion. Sales through third party sellers jumped 39%, to $9.7 billion. Sales of subscription services, which includes Prime membership as well as fees paid towards audiobooks and e-books, soared 57%, to $3.4 billion.
Revenue from its AWS cloud service business jumped to $6.1 billion, a 49% increase over the second quarter of 2017. AWS contributed operating income of $1.6 billion in the quarter, about half of Amazon's operating earnings.
The Amazon money machine shows little signs of slowing down, either. For the third quarter, the company projected that revenue will grow between 23% and 31%, compared with the third quarter of 2017. Operating income is expected to be between $1.4 billion and $2.4 billion, compared with $347 million in the third quarter of 2017.
