Jeff Bezos and the box are both smiling.
Amazon reported a third-quarter profit of $79 millionon sales that rose 23% to $25.4 billion, making it three of the last four quarters in the black for the ecommerce giant that not long ago had been chastised for perpetually living in the red. It was helped into the black by the success of its Amazon Web Services business.
Investors cheered and pushed the stock over $600 per share for the first time. The profit compared with a net loss of $437 million or $0.95 per diluted share in third quarter 2014.
During the quarter, Amazon added Prime Now same-day delivery in eight metro areas, giving an estimated 40 million Prime members access to free two-hour or paid one-hour delivery in 17 locations around the world. The company also said the number of active customers on Amazon.in grew over 230% year-over-year.
Amazon also plans to hire more than 100,000 seasonal employees in North America and over 40,000 across its European fulfillment network this holiday season to meet increasing demand.