• by Sarah Mahoney  @mahoney_sarah, July 26, 2018

On a day when investors were still cursing the name of Facebook, Amazon announced second-quarter numbers that gave observers plenty to love: Earnings came in at $2.5 billion, an increase that was more than double expectations. It also marks the third quarter in a row that the Seattle-based powerhouse posted profits topping $1 billion.

Net sales rose 39% to $52.9 billion, up from $38 billion in the second quarter of last year, albeit somewhat below forecast. In its North American division, sales soared 60%, and 10% at Amazon Web Services. Internationally, they rose 30%.

“The most surprising thing is that the stock didn’t pop more,” Sucharita Kodali, Forrester’s vice president, principal analyst tells Marketing Daily, calling the numbers a “blowout.” 

The quarterly report is the latest evidence that Amazon’s dominance just keeps growing. New data from Walker Sands finds that 42% of consumers, overall, receive between one and two packages from Amazon per week. Among people between 18 and 25, it’s 50%, and for those between the ages of 26 to 37, it’s 57%.

It says one in ten people has bought groceries on Amazon in the past year, and 19% say they have used a voice-controlled device to shop on Amazon Prime.

Amazon used the occasion to talk a little bit more about Whole Foods Markets, including its continued expansion of grocery delivery service, now available in more than 20 cities in the United States.

How Amazon will find ways to maximize Whole Foods continues to keep observers guessing, but analysts are beginning to be more upbeat about the possibilities. “While we believe that Amazon has a lot more work to do in optimizing the proposition, especially in terms of price, we think the progress made to date has been solid,” writes Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData Retail, in his report.

“Whole Foods is now a much more commercially focused company and our data suggests it is attracting more customers. The expansion of online food delivery will bolster this success in the medium term.”