Amazon Q3 Sales Up 39% no comments
Amazon today announced earnings for its third quarter ended September 30, 2010.
Net sales for the quarter were up 39 percent to $7.56 billion compared to $5.45 billion for the third quarter of 2009. Net sales would have grown 40 percent if not for the unfavorable impact of foreign exchange rates. Net income increased 16 percent to $0.51 per diluted share. On the downside, Amazon’s operating expenses increased by 40 percent.
These results beat analyst’s expectations (except, perhaps, for the increase in operating expenses). While Amazon’s stock hit a new high today it did take a hit after hours due to an operating margin forecast for the next quarter that missed analyst’s forecasts. Amazon is forecasting operating margin of 3 to 4.2 percent while analysts were expecting 5 percent.
Some of the highlights of Amazon’s third quarter:
- Amazon introduced the Kindle 3 ereader, which features better hardware at a lower price. Since its introduction the Kindle 3 is the fastest selling Kindle ever. In the first twelve weeks after the Kindle 3’s launch more Kindle 3 ereaders were ordered than any other single product at both Amazon.com and Amazon’s UK website.
- The US Kindle Store is now up to over 720,000 titles. Over 590,000 of these are $9.99 or less.
- Amazon’s North American sales from the US and Canadian sites were up 45 percent from the third quarter of 2009. International sales at the company’s UK, German, Japanese, French and Chinese sites were up 32 percent from Q3 2009.
- Worldwide, media sales were up 14 percent (15 percent if you forget about those pesky foreign exchange rates), while Electronics and other general merchandise sales were up 68 percent (71 percent sans impact from foreign exchange rates).
Amazon is projecting a net sales increase of between 26 and 40 percent for the fourth quarter. Operating income is expected to come in at anywhere from a 24 percent decline to an 18 percent increase.
Sources: Amazon, MarketWatch
