New York

By ANNE D’INNOCENZIOAP Retail Writer

Amazon is reporting increased profits and net sales during its fiscal first quarter, helped by surging growth in its prominent cloud computing unit. The e-commerce and technology company said that sales in its Amazon Web Services unit were up by 28%, the fastest increase in 15 quarters. The number surpassed the 24% growth that AWS had in the fourth quarter, which followed 20% growth in the third quarter.

New York (AP) — Amazon on Wednesday reported a strong increase in profits and net sales during its fiscal first quarter, helped by surging growth in its prominent cloud computing unit.

The e-commerce and technology company said that sales in its cloud computing unit were up by 28%, the fastest increase in 15 quarters.

The number surpassed Amazon Web Services' 24% growth in the fourth quarter, which followed 20% growth in the third quarter.

Amazon reported earnings of $30.3 billion, or $2.78 per share, for the three-month period ended March 31. That compared with $17.1 billion, or $1.59 per share, in the year-ago period.

Net sales rose 17% to $181.5 billion in the quarter, compared with $155.7 billion in the year-ago quarter.

Analysts were expecting $1.63 per share on sales of $177.28 billion, according to analysts surveyed by FactSet.

Revenue from Amazon Web Services reached $37.58 billion. Analysts were expecting $36.6 billion, according to FactSet.

The company offered a bullish outlook for sales for the current quarter. It said it expected net sales will be in the range of $194 billion to $199 billion.

That would mean an increase of between 16% to 19% from the year-ago quarter. Analysts were expecting $188.96 billion in the current period, according to FactSet.