Amazon Shares Rise As Investment Pays Off

Shares in Amazon rose by more than 11% in extended trading after the company's quarterly results beat expectations.

Investors were cheered by evidence that the company's huge investment in areas outside its core online retail empire was starting to pay off.

Amazon posted profits of $214m (£142m) in the three months until 31 December, exceeding Wall Street forecasts, but down on the same period in 2013.

The online retailer posted revenue of $26.33bn (£19.5bn) over the three-month period, missing expectations.

But Amazon Prime membership rose 53% during 2014, despite price rises put in place by the Seattle-based company.

Amazon has long focussed its spending on expanding into new areas such as cloud computing and video streaming, a strategy which has affected profitability and angered many shareholders.

Google posted fourth-quarter earnings figures of $4.8bn, or $6.91 ($4.59) per share, a 41% increase on the same period in 2013.

Analysts had forecast earnings of $7.12 (£4.72) per share, according to FactSet.

The company's revenue for the three-month period rose 15% to $18.1bn.