Amazon posted higher fiscal third quarter profit and sales compared with a year ago, fueled by accelerating growth in its cloud computing business and strong spending by its customers looking for low prices at a time when inflation is resurging.

The e-commerce giant’s stock closed down 3.2% to $222.86 before the positive earnings sent shares booming over 10% at times, to as high as $247.83. Amazon reported $180.2 billion in revenues and earnings per share of $1.

Amazon.com forecast quarterly revenue largely below Wall Street estimates on Thursday, hurt by a weaker retail business as strong demand for its cloud services as businesses continue to spend relentlessly on artificial intelligence.

Amazon's stock has lagged its Big Tech peers and Wall Street has become concerned that the company's dominant cloud-computing business is losing its edge. The company's third-quarter earnings report on Thursday afternoon will be key for investor sentiment.

Amazon shares jumped 10% as the company's third quarter numbers beat Wall Street forecasts on the top and bottom lines by a lot and by even more for the closely watched Amazon Web Services, or AWS, division.

Amazon shares surged after-hours Thursday after the company posted a stronger-than-expected quarter, powered by cloud growth and resilient North American sales. Why it matters: The results underscore how Amazon's heavy bets on AI and faster fulfillment are paying off.

Table showing results from Amazon (AMZN), including better-than-expected results and 20% growth in AWS revenue.