Amazon.com today posted quarterly earnings that more than tripled on strong international sales but offered an outlook for 2005 that was below the more bullish analyst forecasts.
Seattle-based Amazon said it would continue to offer free shipping in a bid to attract more customers through the crucial holiday season and beyond, a move that has cut into its profit margin.
Yet even a surge in profit and increasing revenue were not enough to reassure investors who pushed down the company's stock 8 per cent after its 2005 sales forecast missed Wall Street estimates.
For the third quarter, Amazon posted net income of $54.1 million, or 13 cents per share, up from a year-ago net profit of $15.6 million, or 4 cents per share.
Revenue rose to $1.46 billion from $1.13 billion, driven by a 52 per cent increase in international sales and strong growth in its electronics and other merchandise segment.
Excluding items, the company's quarterly profit met the average analyst forecast but its outlook for 2005 implied a forecast for a drop in sales growth from near 30 per cent in 2004 to a range of between 6 percent and 22 per cent in 2005.
The company said electronic and general merchandise sales surged 55 per cent to $1.47 billion. Top sellers included Apple iPods, Similac baby formula, the Sims II video game and Sony Ericsson mobile phones.
It also said it was ready for the critical holiday season and expected to post sales of between $2.30 billion and $2.55 billion for the fourth quarter - a range that includes the average Wall Street estimate of $2.41 billion.