Amazon's Revenue Soars, hmm but No Profit in sight
San Francisco _ Amazon's third quarter followed a familiar script: it sold vast quantities of things, lost money while doing so, and investors were delighted.
Revenue was $17.09 billion up 24 percent and about $400 million more than predicted, the company said Thursday. But allthat volume could not yield a profit. Amazon lost 9 cents a share, or $41 million, just like as had anticipated.
Amazon had predicted that revenue in the third quarter would rise 12 to 24 percent. The result came in the very top of that range. As for the loss, it was smaller than the 60 cents a share, or $274 milion, the ompany lost last year. Much of the poor 2012 showing was related to an ill-fated invesment in LivingSoccial, a daily site.
Mr. Szkutak was chary with specifics. Asked about a reference in the results to signing up "millions" of new customers for the $79 Prime Shipping service, he merely said, "Prime is growing very fast."
"Amazon is the teacher's pet of Wall Street," said Sucharita Mulpuru, an analyst with Forerester Research. "There is no other company in the entire world that has theominable rate of profitability they do and yet has the consistenly abominable rate of profitablility they do and yet has the stratospheric valuation they do."
In the last 90 days, the company said, it began using eight million square feet of new warhouses.
Ther is more to come. Amazon said ths week it would open new fulfillment centers in Hillsborough County and Lakeland, Fla and in Baltimore.
