With memories of the abysmal Fire Phone fading fast, Amazon is becoming one of the most exciting device makers in the tech industry. Sales of its Echo speaker, featuring the Alexa voice assistant, and the company's Fire TV stick have consistently led Amazon.com's electronics category for months. With the addition of its $50 Kindle tablets and new, albeit pricey Kindle Oasis e-reader, Amazon is further cementing its position as a top-tier gadget maker. Now, the efforts are translating into profit.

Amazon posted fiscal first quarter earnings today, reporting net revenue of $29.1 billion — a growth of 28 percent compared to the same period last year. It also posted net income of $513 million, or $1.07 a share, its biggest quarterly profit in the company's history. Amazon recorded a $53 million loss in its year-ago quarter. After years of extreme spending and having to assure skeptics that it would all make sense with time, CEO Jeff Bezos is finally able to enjoy, and not sacrifice, short-term gains to achieve his longer-term vision. (Of course, the company still won't tell us exactly how many of its own devices it sells. Maybe next quarter.)

Amazon position as a top-tier gadget maker is helping it post record profit

"Amazon devices are the top selling products on Amazon, and customers purchased more than twice as many Fire tablets than first quarter last year," Bezos said in a statement. "Echo too is off to an incredible start, and we can’t yet manage to keep it in stock despite all efforts. We’re building premium products at non-premium prices, and we’re thrilled so many customers are responding to our approach."

The numbers blew past Wall Street expectations. Analysts surveyed by Thompson Reuters had Amazon at a profit of 58 cents a share on revenue of $27.98 billion. Shares are up 12 percent in after-hours trading. Amazon's stock has more than doubled in value over the last 12 months thanks to the company's more stable profit growth.

Devices are just one part of the equation. Another, perhaps more important, aspect of Amazon's core business is its high-performing cloud computing division, Amazon Web Services. AWS sales tripled over last quarter to $2.57 billion on net income of $604 million, a 64 percent year-over-year jump that makes it more profitable than Amazon's entire North American retail business for the first time.

For Amazon, which leases server space to companies as large as Netflix and Spotify, continuing to invest in the cloud is an integral part of its long-term strategy to best rivals Microsoft and Google. And the investments are paying off handsomely.

There are still sore points. Amazon's international business is continues to operate at a loss, but it's closing in on breaking even. The company said last quarter its international division lost $121 million, compared with a $158 million loss in the year-ago quarter. The company is also aggressively spending to move more into real-world logistics, with Prime Now same-day package and restaurant delivery services rolling out both across the US and around the globe. The Seattle-based online retailer's shipping and delivery costs will only continue to rise.

Yet Amazon is showing signs of having turned the corner on profit, once its biggest and most pressing issue in the eyes of investors. The company is still looking far out, into delivery drones, more robust shipping networks, and more ways it can leverage Alexa and other aspects of its cloud business. For now though, it appears Bezos has Wall Street off his back.