Amazon Raises Cost Of Prime Membership Following Strong Q4 Earnings

Amazon reported Thursday that its profits nearly doubled in the final three months of last year, even as it contended with surging costs tied to a snarled supply chain and labor shortages.

The Seattle-based online behemoth also said it is raising its annual prime membership fee in the U.S. to $139 per year from $119. It's the first price hike for the Prime membership since 2018.

Shares of Amazon jumped nearly 15% in after-market trading.

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Amazon is one of the few retailers that has prospered during the COVID-19 outbreak. As physical stores selling non-essential goods temporarily or permanently closed, homebound people turned to Amazon for everything from groceries to cleaning supplies.

Amazon's Chief Financial Officer Brian Olsavsky estimated Amazon incurred about $4 billion in costs related to supply-chain and labor issues. And he said that the surging Omicron variant resulted in workers calling out sick, hurting productivity.

Still, the company reported a profit of $14.32 billion, or $27.75 per share, for the three-month period ended Dec. 31. That compared with a profit of $7.22 billion, or $14.09 per share, during the year-ago period. Revenue rose 9% to $137.41 billion, the company’s fifth consecutive quarter of revenue topping $100 billion.

Amazon said that its sales are expected to be between $112 billion and $117 billion for the current quarter.

Additional reporting by The Associated Press.