Amazon posted financial results for the first quarter of 2018, in which it highlighted its cloud service, Amazon Web Services, drove the e-commerce giant's growth.
Here are four things to know.
1. Amazon reported a 43 percent spike in net sales to $51 billion in the first quarter of 2018, compared with $35.71 billion in sales the same period one year prior.
2. The e-commerce giant posted a $1.9 billion operating income in the quarter, up 92 percent from $1 billion in the first quarter of 2017.
3. Amazon's net income was $1.6 billion in the first quarter, which equated to $3.27 per diluted share, compared with net income of $724 million, or $1.48 per diluted share, in same period one year prior.
4. Net sales for AWS hit $5.4 billion, compared with $3.7 billion one year prior.
"AWS had the unusual advantage of a seven-year head start before facing like-minded competition, and the team has never slowed down," said Jeff Bezos, Amazon founder and CEO. "As a result, the AWS services are by far the most evolved and most functionality-rich. AWS lets developers do more and be nimbler, and it continues to get even better every day. That's why you're seeing this remarkable acceleration in AWS growth, now for two quarters in a row. A huge thank you to all our AWS customers, and you can be sure we'll keep working hard for you."
In addition to its impressive first quarter, Amazon announced changes to its Prime membership fee, ARS Technica reports. Starting May 11, U.S. customers will pay $119 a year to use the service, up from $99. However, members will have access to additional features, such as unlimited Prime Video streaming, free two-hour delivery in select areas, ad-free Twitch viewing and special deals at Whole Foods.
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