An online shopping boom is benefiting shipping giant Maersk.

It's moving all the furniture, exercise bikes and other goodies ordered by consumers stuck at home.

Container ships have been sailing at full load since August - something not seen in a decade.

The ocean shipping business was also helped by high freight rates and low fuel costs.

All told, that saw fourth-quarter pre-tax earnings leap 85% to just over 2.7 billion dollars.

That still fell short of analyst forecasts, however, and saw shares head sharply lower.

They tumbled as much as 8% in morning trade Wednesday (February 10).

Investors also noted the company's more cautious than expected outlook for trade.

Maersk's expected earnings range for the year starts as low as 8.5 billion dollars - compared with the over 10 billion that analysts had forecast.