Amazon has just posted its earnings for the first quarter of the year, and as expected, they are fairly high. Starting off with Net Sales, that number increased by about 23% from the quarter before which sat at $29.1 billion to a whooping $35.7 billion in the first quarter. This number actually excludes the $492 million unfavorable impact from foreign exchange rates changing through the quarter. Operating Income did drop in the quarter, going from $1.1 billion to $1 billion, and Net income was $724 million, or $1.48 per diluted share. In the year before, it was $513 million or $1.07 per diluted share.
For Amazon, their Operating cash flow increased nearly 53% to about $17.6 billion. Free cash flow increased to $10.2 billion in the twelve months ending March 31st, versus $6.7 billion in the twelve months ending March 31st, 2016. Amazon did also note that common shares outstanding plus shares underlying stock-based awards were about 497 million, that’s compared to 490 million the year before.
When talking about its services, Amazon noted that for the second year in a row, they have been ranked #1 for corporate reputation in the 23,000-person Harris Poll. Also, US consumers have ranked Amazon as number one in the American Customer Satisfaction Index. When talking about video content, Amazon says that their original movies won three Academy Awards, and also noted that the NFL had selected their Prime Video service as their exclusive partner to deliver game each Thursday night during the upcoming season. These games will be shown internationally as well, in over 200 countries and territories around the world. Amazon also brought the Fire TV Stick to India and the introduced the Echo Look – although that was actually in Q2.
For the second quarter, Amazon is expected Net sales to be between $35.25 and $37.75 billion. With Operating Income to be between $425 million and $1.075 billion, that’s compared with the $1.3 billion in the second quarter of 2017. Of course, this guidance for the second quarter comes with the usual cautions like the fact that it doesn’t take in any business acquisitions, investments and such, into account. You can check out Amazon’s full press release on their first quarter earnings at the source link down below.