Amazon holiday quarter profit doubles

Amazon has reported its profit doubled to $14 billion in the crucial holiday quarter, giving a boost to jittery markets that expected less due to higher labor, sourcing and delivery costs.

The e-commerce colossus said its net sales climbed to $137 billion, and its profit benefited greatly from a return on investment in electric vehicle maker Rivian, which went public in November.

Amazon shares were up some 14 percent in after-hours trading on Feb. 3, drawing in investors eager for some good news after shares tanked in Facebook parent Meta.

Amazon's Chief Financial Officer Brian Olsavsky estimated Amazon incurred about $4 billion in costs related to supply-chain and labor issues. And he said that the surging Omicron variant resulted in workers calling out sick, hurting productivity.

Amazon has been a big pandemic-era winner but it is particularly exposed to the supply chain headaches, labor churn and inflation that have come to weigh on people's lives and business' ability to make money.

"Despite these short-term challenges, we continue to feel optimistic and excited about the business as we emerge from the pandemic," CEO Andy Jassy said in an earnings statement.

Amazon said it had its "biggest-ever Black Friday to Cyber Monday holiday shopping weekend." The company also noted that its Amazon Web Services unit had inked big cloud computing deals with Nasdaq, Meta and others.

AWS generated $17.78 billion in revenue in the period, 40 percent more year-on-year.

This came as Google parent Alphabet and Apple have posted whopping profits this earnings season, although Facebook was battered by markets - losing some $200 billion in value - after disappointing results that cast doubts about its future.

Analysts...