EARNINGS ROUNDUP / AMAZON

Amazon.com Inc. said its third-quarter earnings soared 62%, showing that consumers are comfortable opening their wallets to the online retailer despite the still-shaky economy.

The report and Amazon’s prediction for more than 20% growth in the current quarter sent Amazon shares surging in after-hours trading.

Throughout the recession, shoppers have flocked to Amazon for deals on all kinds of products even while offline competitors were struggling.

The most recent report shows that the summer months were no exception -- and that Amazon expects to carry the momentum through the holidays. The company said it expects revenue in the current quarter to grow between 21% and 36%.

Seattle-based Amazon said it earned $199 million, or 45 cents a share, in the third quarter. That far exceeded the 30 cents a share that analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had expected.

Revenue rose 28% to $5.45 billion, also surpassing analyst estimates of $5.03 billion.

Revenue from books, CDs, DVDs and other media rose 17% to $2.93 billion. Electronics and other “general merchandise” revenue jumped 44% to $2.36 billion.

Amazon jumped $13.53, or 14.5%, to 106.98 in after-hours trading, well past its 52-week high of $97.82. Before the earnings report the stock finished regular trading up 3 cents at $93.45.