Amazon revenue beats estimates as cloud sales surge

Amazon.com Inc reported a better-than-expected rise in quarterly revenue, powered by blockbuster growth in its cloud services unit and an increase in subscriptions for its Prime loyalty program.

The world's biggest online retailer's shares were up 2 percent in after-hours trading on Thursday.

Amazon forecast current-quarter net sales of between USD 31.0 billion and USD 33.5 billion, factoring in sales from its Prime Day annual shopping festival.

The company's net sales in North America, its biggest market, jumped 28.1 percent to USD 17.67 billion.

Revenue from its cloud services business, Amazon Web Services, surged 58.2 percent to USD 2.89 billion. This beat the average estimate of USD 2.83 billion, according to market research firm FactSet StreetAccount.

The unit, Amazon's fastest growing business, is seen as the next driver of growth for the company.

The company's net sales rose 31.1 percent to USD 30.40 billion in the second quarter ended June 30.

Net income rose to USD 857 million, or USD 1.78 per share, from USD 92 million, or 19 cents per share, a year earlier.

Analysts on average had expected a profit of USD 1.11 per share and revenue of USD 29.55 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.