Amazon.com shares skyrocket, hit all-time high after Q3 results

Amazon.com shares jumped more than 25 percent in trading Friday following the company's robust third-quarter earnings report yesterday. The stock was trading at $117.25 Friday afternoon. That blew past the company's previous intraday record of $113 (adjusted for stock splits) in December 1999 during the dot-com bubble, according to reports.

Update: Amazon shares closed at $118.49 Friday.

Amazon's Q3 profit surged 68 percent to $199 million, or 45 cents a share, and sales were up 28 percent to $5.45 billion, beating analyst expectations and demonstrating the ecommerce giant's continuing ability to grab market share in a recession-ravaged economy. The company expects a strong holiday quarter, with sales growing between 21 percent and 36 percent.

"Near-term outlook very positive as AMZN heads into holiday season fully armed against shrinking/de-stocking offline retailers, with one of the must-have gadgets of the season (Kindle), a significantly strengthening International presence, and soon-to-be closed Zappos acquisition," wrote Citigroup analyst Mark Mahaney in a research note, reiterating his Buy rating on Amazon.

Amazon stock closed Thursday at $93.45 but soared in after-hours trading after the company's Q3 earnings release. The company's third-quarter performance included a rebound of media sales of books, music and video games, which rose 13 percent in North America and 17 percent globally. Sales of electronics and other general merchandise also showed strong growth.

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About Eric Engleman

ERIC ENGLEMAN is senior technology staff writer for TechFlash and the Puget Sound Business Journal, covering online retail giant Amazon.com. Engleman tracks Amazon's increasingly complex business, spanning ecommerce, Kindle, cloud computing, and more. He's been covering technology and other industries for the Business Journal since 2003.

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