Amazon has reported that net sales have increased by 20% in Q2 2015, from $19.34 billion in Q2 2014 to $23.18 billion.
Most notably, Amazon turned a profit of $92 million for the quarter, which is considered a rarity. After all, the company reported a net loss of $126 million in Q2 2014. Analysts expected Amazon to lose about 14 cents per share this quarter, according to Wired.
Overall free cash flow also increased for the quarter. Although operating cash flow swelled 69% to $8.98 billion for the previous 12 months, free cash flow increased to $4.37 billion, compared to only $1.04 billion the year before. Operating income totaled $464 million in Q2 2015, a significant improvement over Q2 2014, which garnered an operating loss of $15 million.
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Founder and CEO Jeff Bezos attributed the profit boost to a series of successful projects and initiatives. For example, the eTailer held its first ever Prime Day, which motivated a 266% increase in year-over-year sales for the same day. The branded shopping holiday also garnered 18% more sales compared to Black Friday 2014 for the brand. Over the past year, Amazon also has expanded Prime Now to three additional cities, including London. The one-hour delivery service now is available in nine cities.
“The teams at Amazon have been working hard for customers,” Bezos said. “We unveiled Amazon Business, opened Amazon Mexico, launched Prime free same-day, rolled out our ninth Prime Now city, broke our Black Friday record with the first-ever Prime Day, received 11 Emmy nominations for Transparent, debuted six new kids pilots, brought Echo to general availability and introduced the Alexa Skills Kit and Alexa Voice Service, and opened FBA Small and Light.”
Outstanding common shares and underlying stock-based awards totaled 488 million as of June 30, 2015. On the same day in 2014, there were 480 million shares.
