Amazon is now bigger than Wal-Mart.
Based on market capitalization, Amazon, which began as an online bookstore, has overtaken the retail giant.
Amazon shares exploded 15% in after-hours trading Thursday to as high as $567 per share after the company reported quarterly earnings that beat expectations on the top and bottom lines.
Based on the after-hours spike, Amazon's market cap is now worth about $264 billion. Wal-Mart is worth $233.5 billion.
Looked at another way, Amazon grew by about $36 billion in the first half hour after its earnings crossed. For comparison, Twitter's market cap is $23.5 billion.
Here's the epic chart.
