Amazon gives Wall Street mixed financial picture in earnings report

E-commerce company posts high cloud computing sales but gives a cautious sales forecast for the fourth quarter

Amazon offered a mixed picture of its financial health on Thursday in its quarterly earnings report.

The e-commerce company gave a cautious sales forecast for the current fourth quarter, which encompasses the critical holiday shopping period, after delivering fiscal third-quarter results that came in below Wall Street analysts’ expectations.

The Seattle-based company posted strong growth, however, in its prominent cloud computing unit. Sales in its cloud computing unit, called AWS, rose 39.3% during the latest quarter ended 30 September, higher than the 37% clip in the previous quarter. It marked the fastest growth rate in nearly five years, the company said.