Amazon surprised the stock market on Wednesday when it announced having made a profit.
The news follows close on the heels of the retailer’s announcement that it had suffered the largest loss in its history.
The company said it had a net income of $214 million in the three months to the end of December. Sales were up by 15% in the period to $29.3 billion.
Amazon has been spending big time on a host of projects ranging from its own smartphones, delivery drones to a business email scheme. This accounted for it $437 million it lost in the third quarter of 2014.
Its shareholders, however, have started to become restive about the lack of profit.
CEO Jeff Bezos said Amazon Prime was bringing in benefits. Prime is a subscription service giving free delivery and free book borrowing on kindle as well as access to online video and music.
It costs $99 in the US and £79 in the UK. The number of Prime memberships around the world soared by 53% last year.
“Prime is a one-of-a-kind, all-you-can-eat, physical-digital hybrid. In 2014 alone we paid billions of dollars for Prime shipping and invested $1.3bn in Prime Instant Video,” Mr Bezos said.
