Amazon.com earnings surge 257 percent

Amazon surprised analysts on Tuesday with stronger than expected Q2 revenues and net income. The online retailer posted a net profit of $78 million, up 257% from $22 million in Q2 of 2006. Net sales climbed 35% to $2.89 billion. The company attributed the surge in revenues and profits especially to its “Prime” program, which allows customers to take advantage of two-day shipping on any purchase for a flat fee of $79 per year.

North America remains the firm’s strongest property, with sales of $1.60 billion.

While Electronics become a more and more important portion of Amazon’s revenue - $970 million in Q2 – book sales remain the core business with sales of $1.83 billion. One of the highlights during the quarter was the release of the latest Harry Potter book, for which Amazon received more than 2.2 million pre-orders.

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