Amazon 3Q Revenue Better than Expected

Shares of Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) rose more than 8% in after-hours trading after the Internet retail giant reported better-than-expected third-quarter earnings.

The shares were up $26.75, or 8.05%, at $358.96, an all-time high.

Amazon.com reported a loss of 9 cents per share on revenue of $17.09 billion. During the same period a year ago, the company reported revenue of $13.81 billion.

Analysts had forecast a loss of 9 cents per share on revenue of $16.7 billion.

The company also projected revenue for the key fourth quarter, the busiest for all retailers because it includes the Christmas holiday and buying season. Amazon said it expects revenue of $23.5 billion to $26.5 billion, with a midpoint below the $25.9 billion in revenue the Street is expecting.

Despite seeing higher revenues, the loss in the third quarter was the third consecutive quarterly loss for the company, which is expanding into new sectors and building new facilities. Amazon in the past few years has doubled the amount of warehouse and processing facilities it operates.

Founder and Chief Executive Jeff Bezos has stuck to his plan of growing revenues through expansion and by providing lower prices than many of his Internet retail competitors. That strategy has paid off with investors even as the company has lost money in recent quarters.

Seattle-based Amazon’s shares reached a new all-time high on Tuesday and have risen more than 45% in the past 12 months.

“It’s been a busy few months -- we launched a new Paperwhite and new Kindle Fires to positive reviews and surprised people with the revolutionary Mayday button -- average Mayday response times are just 11 seconds.” Bezos said in a statement.