Amazon stock value hits record high

By Ovunc Kutlu

NEW YORK (AA) - American e-commerce giant Amazon's stock value hit a record high level on Friday, making the firm the second biggest company in market value in the U.S..

Amazon saw its revenue increase 42.8 percent and net income rise 125 percent in the first quarter of this year, from the same period last year, according to its financial results announced late Thursday.

With strong earnings crushing market expectations, the firm's stock value climbed to as high as $1,638.10 per share on Friday -- its all-time highest level -- with a 7.9 percent daily gain, according to official data.

That gave Amazon a market capitalization of $763 billion, which surpassed the market value of U.S. tech giants like Microsoft and Google's parent company Alphabet.

Amazon now ranks second in market value among American companies after Apple, which stood at around $825 billion.

Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos also saw his net worth increase on Friday.

Bezos, who owns around 16 percent of Amazon stocks, added around $10 billion to his net worth, which climbed to $134.5 billion.

The 54-year-old CEO has solidified his position at the top of Forbes's The World's Billionaires real-time rankings list.