Amazon says that its AWS business generated sales of $1.57 billion during the first quarter of 2015. The company said that the business was “growing fast”, with its total revenues for the quarter up by 15%. AWS, or Amazon Web Services, is a cloud computing business that hosts websites on behalf of companies. The increase was bigger than had been predicted, and the news led to shares in the company rising by almost 5% in after-hours trading. However, Amazon still reported a loss of $57 million for Q1.
AWS provides cloud computing services to businesses including Spotify and Netflix, as well as the CIA. The results mean that AWS is the biggest business of its kind when revenue is considered. Analysts had predicted that AWS would make a loss during this period. AWS last year claimed that it could become bigger than Amazon’s retail division. Nonetheless, the company is facing stiff competition from rivals including Google, Microsoft and IBM.
Amazon’s investors have been keen to see the company start turning bigger profits and stop pouring money into new projects. It has launched tablets and smartphones over recent years, to mixed success. Amazon was founded in July 1994 in Washington.