Amazon sales soared over the Christmas season, rising 21% from the prior year, in sharp contrast to weakness reported by other retailers.
The e-commerce juggernaut said it earned $87bn (£66bn) in sales in the last three months of the year, well ahead of analyst expectations.
Its cloud services division, a key profit-driver, saw its quarterly sales rise 34% to almost $10bn.
The news sent the firm's shares up more than 10% in after-hours trade.
If the prices hold on Friday, it would return Amazon to a market valuation above $1 trillion, joining Microsoft, Apple and Google.
Amazon said it earned $3.3bn in profit in the quarter, up from $3bn a year ago - despite spending heavily on high speed delivery services for its Prime members.
Boss Jeff Bezos said the firm now had more than 150 million Prime accounts globally - up 50% from its last disclosure in 2018. Members get free delivery and access to Amazon's trove of video, among other perks.
"Prime membership continues to get better for customers year after year. And customers are responding - more people joined Prime this quarter than ever before," he said.
Amazon's growth has come even as traditional stores and malls suffer, with a decline in foot traffic blamed in part on online shopping.
Retailers such as Target and Macy's have reported sales in recent weeks that missed forecasts.
Pier 1 also announced it would close hundreds of locations, while Bed Bath & Beyond warned investors that sales in the three months to 30 November had dropped almost 10%.
Meanwhile, at Amazon, sales in North America - which accounts for the majority of its revenue - increased 22%, while international sales were up 14%.
'The real surprise'
"Amazon blew all expectations out of the water during the holiday quarter," said Andrew Lipsman, analyst at research firm eMarketer. However, he added: "Amazon's increased profits during this quarter in the face of increased costs and competitive pressure in AWS was the real surprise."
Amazon's operating expenses increased more than 20% to more than $83bn, with global shipping costs alone up 43% to more than $12bn.
But Amazon said the cost in the quarter of expanding one-day shipping was slightly less than the $1.5bn it had feared.
"Given the scale of investments taking place analysts had expected profits to reverse, and the fact they've improved despite the extra spending is testament to the quality of the business Jeff Bezos has created," said Nicholas Hyett, equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown.
Amazon claimed more than 37% of the US e-commerce market last year, according to estimates by research firm eMarketer. It accounted for almost 10% globally.
But the company has not been unaffected by the broader shift to online shopping.
Quarterly sales at its physical stores, including its Whole Foods grocery shops, declined 1% compared to the prior year. But the firm said that was because it was making more food deliveries.
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January 31, 2020 at 04:49AM
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Amazon: Christmas sales soar as other retailers struggle - BBC News
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