Amazon (AMZN) outpaced analysts' forecasts for profit and reven💛ue growth in the third quarter as Amazon Web Services (AWS) revenue climbed following a period of deceleration in recent quarters.

The company said overall revenue for the latest quarter was $143.1 billion, a 13% increase from the year-ago period. Net income for the quarter came in at $9.9 billion, or 94 cents per share, more than tripling on a year-over-year basis.

AWS, Amazon's highly lucrative cloud computing platform, is a prime driver of revenue for the company but has experienced slowing sales in recent quarters. Third-quarter AWS sales rose 12% to $23.1 billion, on par with analysts' expectations.

"The AWS team continues to innovate and deliver at a rapid clip, particularly in generative AI," said CEO Andy Jassy in a statement.

Tech rival Alphabet reported this week that cloud sales reached the slowest pace of growth in nearly four years, benefiting competitors in the space including AWS.

Notably, Amazon's nascent ads business posted accelerating revenue growth compared with the 22% improvement seen in the second quarter. Amazon's ad revenue totaled $12.1 billion in the third quarter, a 26% increase over the year-ago period, and has emerged as the company's fastest-growing business line.

Another driver of performance in the third quarter was the recent iteration of Amazon's popular Prime Day. In mid-July, Prime Day sales in the U.S. reached an all-time high of nearly $13 billion, with a 25% increase in number of items purchased compared with the equivalent event in 2022.

The compa🦄ny said it expects net sale꧑s in the fourth quarter to rise between 7% and 12% versus a year earlier. Operating income for the last quarter is projected between $7 billion and $11 billion, compared with $2.7 billion in the fourth quarter of 2022.

Amazon shares, which have gained nearly 40% this year, jumped 4% in after-hours trading before giving up those gains ahead of the company's earnings call.