Last week ecommerce giant Amazon [NASDAQ: AMZN] reported another stellar quarter, driving its stock value up by more than $128 per share overnight. Among its quarterly financial highlights were net sales of $43.7 billion, representing a 34 percent increase over the same period last year. Net sales included $1.3 billion from Whole Foods Market, who Amazon acquired on August 28, 2017. Without the Whole Foods Market deal, Amazon’s net sales would have increased 29 percent year-over-year. Net income for the third quarter was $256 million, or $0.52 per diluted share, compared to $252 million, or $0.52 per diluted share, for the third quarter of 2016.

Additional financial highlights include:

• Operating cash flow increased 14 percent to $17.1 billion for the trailing 12 months, compared to $15.0 billion ended September 30, 2016.
• Operating income decreased 40 percent to $347 million, compared to $575 million for Q3 2016.
• Net product sales totaled $28.8 billion. Net service sales totaled $15.0 million.
• Total operating expenses were $43.4 billion.

‘In the last month alone, we’ve launched five new Alexa-enabled devices, introduced Alexa in India, announced integration with BMW, surpassed 25,000 skills, integrated Alexa with Sonos speakers, taught Alexa to distinguish between two voices, and more. Because Alexa’s brain is in the AWS cloud, her new abilities are available to all Echo customers, not just those who buy a new device,’ said Jeff Bezos, Amazon founder and CEO, in a press release.

‘And it’s working – customers have purchased tens of millions of Alexa-enabled devices, given Echo devices over 100,000 5-star reviews, and active customers are up more than 5x since the same time last year. With thousands of developers and hardware makers building new Alexa skills and devices, the Alexa experience will continue to get even better,’ added Bezos.

Other operational highlights include:

• Amazon and Microsoft announced that Amazon’s Alexa and Microsoft’s Cortana will be able to talk to each other.
• Amazon Music Unlimited launched in France, Italy and Spain, offering a catalog of more than 50 million songs for €9.99 a month with special discounts for Prime members.
• Amazon launched Amazon Key for in-home delivery and secure home access for guests and service appointments. Amazon Key works with Amazon Cloud Cam, an indoor home security camera.
• NFL Thursday Night Football on Amazon Prime Video received 7.1 million views for the first four games.

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  Amazon launches all-new Kindle app to make it easier to read and connect with friends.

• Amazon Business expanded to Japan and India, and it launched Business Prime Shipping, unlimited free two-day shipping in the U.S. and Germany.
• Amazon plans to hire 120,000 seasonal employees in the U.S. to help with holiday shipping and shorting.
• Amazon is searching for the next location for its second headquarters. The company received 238 proposals from different sites throughout North America.
• Amazon Books opened bookstores in Bellevue, Washington; San Jose, California; Los Angeles, California; and a second location in New York.
• Amazon Web Services (AWS) launched Amazon Macie, a new security service that uses machine learning to help customers prevent data loss by automatically discovering, classifying and protecting sensitive data in AWS.

What’s next for Amazon? The company provided the following guidance for the fourth quarter of 2017:

• Estimated net sales between $56 billion and $60.5 billion for growth between 28 percent and 38 percent compared to Q4 2016.
• Estimated operating income of $300 million and $1.65 billion, compared to $1.3 billion in Q4 2016.

As expected, Amazon investors reacted favorably to the news. Amazon announced its quarterly financials on Thursday, October 27. On that day, Amazon’s stock closed at $972.43. As of 7:59 PM Eastern on Friday, October 27, Amazon stock was valued at $1,100.95 per share.

Insider Take:

It seems that everything Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos touches turns to gold, if Amazon’s continued success quarter after quarter is any indication. In the third quarter of 2017, Bezos wasn’t content to “just” acquire Whole Foods Market; Amazon continued with new innovations, and product and service launches and upgrades across the board, bringing greater value to the company’s offerings and driving up Amazon’s overall value. We can’t wait to see what’s coming in the fourth quarter!