Thursday, January 29, 2015

Amazon sales climb in holiday quarter, shares rise

A zoomed image of a computer screen showing the Amazon logo is seen in Vienna November 26, 2012. To match Special Report TAX-AMAZON/ REUTERS/Heinz-Peter Bader



A zoomed image of a computer screen showing the Amazon logo is seen in Vienna November 26, 2012. To match Special Report TAX-AMAZON/


Credit: /Heinz-Peter Bader






- Amazon.com Inc reported earnings of 45 cents per share for the crucial holiday quarter, trouncing analysts' expectations and sending its shares up 9 percent.

Wall Street expected Amazon to report earnings per share of 17 cents, according to Thomson I/B/E/S. Operating expenses rose 14.6 percent in the quarter to $28.7 billion. Net shipping costs represented 4.6 percent of worldwide net sales, slightly lower than the previous four quarters.


Revenue rose 15 percent to $29.3 billion, slightly short of the average analyst estimate of nearly $30 billion. About a third of Amazon’s annual revenue is recorded in the holiday quarter.


Amazon has been pouring money into beefing up its $99-a-year Prime membership program. Worldwide, paying Prime membership rose 53 percent in 2014, and 50 percent in the U.S. market. In 2014, Amazon paid billions for Prime shipping and put $1.3 billion into its Prime video service, Chief Executive Jeff Bezos said in a statement.


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