FILE - In this Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2017, file photo, an Amazon Echo Dot is displayed during a program announcing several new Amazon products by the company, in Seattle. Amazon.com, Inc. reports earnings Thursday, Oct. 26, 2017. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson, File)
FILE - In this Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2017, file photo, an Amazon Echo Dot is displayed during a program announcing several new Amazon products by the company, in Seattle. Amazon.com, Inc. reports earnings Thursday, Oct. 26, 2017. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson, File) Credit: Elaine Thompson

New York — Amazon posted third-quarter earnings that far surpassed Wall Street expectations, helped by the acquisition of organic grocer Whole Foods and an increase in sales during its summer “Prime Day” promotions.

The company also said on Thursday that it expects sales to rise during the busy holiday-shopping season. Its shares soared 8 percent in extended trading after releasing the results. Amazon has been busy in the past few months: It gained 465 physical stores after it paid nearly $14 billion for Whole Foods; it announced a series of new voice-activated Echo devices; and it kicked off a public hunt for a place to build its second headquarters.

It now employs more than 540,000 people, a 77 percent jump from a year ago, with some of that growth coming from the Whole Foods acquisition. But the company said it also has been hiring software engineers, sales representatives and others to work on its cloud computing business, video streaming service and its devices.

Founder and CEO Jeff Bezos touted the popularity of its Echo devices in a statement, and pointed out that it launched five new voice-activated gadgets in the last month. “Customers have purchased tens of millions of Alexa-enabled devices,” he said.

Other executives on a conference call with analysts on Thursday were less chatty about Amazon’s possible future endeavors: They declined to answer questions related to news reports that the company may open pharmacies at its Whole Food stores or start to sell medicine online.

Overall, Amazon reported net income of $256 million, or 52 cents per share, for the three months ending Sept. 30. That easily beat the 2 cents per share analysts had expected, according to FactSet. Amazon has long been known for investing the money it makes back into its businesses, such as opening new warehouses to fulfill orders. Many seemed to expect that again.

Revenue rose 34 percent to $43.47 billion, beating the $41.58 billion analysts expected. The company said net sales included $1.3 billion from Whole Foods Market, which Amazon acquired on Aug. 28. After taking over Whole Foods, Amazon slashed prices, added its logo on signs and set up a stand of “farm fresh” Amazon Echo voice-assistant devices by store entrances.

The company attributed the revenue jump to its third annual Prime Day in July, when it offers discounts to its Prime members to boost sales. Amazon doesn’t disclose how many Prime members it has, but it said revenue from its subscription services, grew 59 percent from the year before.