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In fact, exceeding the pro-forma profit it had predicted, the online retailer announced its first GAAP* net profit - to the tune of $5m. This compares to a net loss of $545m for the corresponding quarter in 2000.

A huge boost to the figures was the successes of Amazon's overseas ventures, which collectively grew 81 per cent and are already touting a pro-forma operating profit for the quarter just three years after launch. Nearly a third of all sales were made to international customers, and includes the US site.

For the year, however, Amazon is still in the red, with a net loss of more than $567m. But this is still better than the $1,411m net loss for fiscal year 2000.

Amazon has been promising and not delivering profit for so long that this latest announcement should put a spring back into the step of disheartened high-tech investors, especially as Amazon, with its strong brand, has been seen as a bellwether of Internet stocks.

For more information see Amazon.com.

* Generally Accepted Accounting Principles