Internet retailer Amazon.com overnight reported second quarter profit and revenue beating analyst expectations.
Amazon reported a loss of $43 million compared with a loss of $94 million for the same period a year ago.
Sales for the quarter came in at $1.1 billion, up 37% from a year ago and ahead of analyst forecasts of around $1 billion. The sales growth mostly resulted from international sales, which grew 81% in the quarter from a year ago. Amazon's North America segment sales increased 20%.
The publication of the new Harry Potter book helped boost sales in the quarter - in June the company sold more than 1.4 million copies of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.
Amazon said it expects sales for the third quarter of $1.07 billion to $1.15 billion, above average forecasts of $1.03 billion. For the full year, the company said sales would be between $4.9 billion and $5.1 billion.
