Strong quarter for sales at Amazon

The online retailer Amazon.com reported Wednesday that net income for the second quarter more than doubled on strong sales. Net income rose 102 percent to $158 million, or 37 cents a share, up from $78 million or 19 cents per share. Revenue rose 41 percent to $4.06 billion for the quarter, which ended June 30. Analysts had forecasts earnings of 26 cents a share on $3.96 billion in revenue, according to a surveying by means of Thomson Financial. In April, Amazon had predicted income of $3.88 billion to $4.08 billion in the quarter. The company said sales of books, CDs and DVDs rose 24 percent to $1.15 billion, while electronics and other commodities sales rose 52 percent to $920 million. Sales in the United States and Canada were $2.17 billion, up 35 percent. International sales — Britain, China, France, Germany and Japan —... [read full story]