Amazon Makes a Profit 311
sofar writes: "Amazon finally makes a profit. Well, only $ 5mln, but maybe you can actually earn something on your stock now. At 1c a share it's no pension fund in Florida yet." I wonder how much of that profit represents 1-click licensing fees.
oh please (Score:5, Insightful)
Not really an accurate measurement (Score:-1, Insightful)
Hell freezing over? (Score:4, Insightful)
Or all we all just amazed that at least one DotCom company had a solid business plan, stuck with it, and now has something to show for it?
Re:Great! (Score:5, Insightful)
Agreed.
As much as I hate about their one-click patent, Amazon is best place for books and other stuffs. Their recommendation feature is excellent. I found out a lot of authors that I would have known otherwise. And the service is first class. If only other companies would care so much about service quality too....
Sure, Amazon has been losing tons of money, but you have to give credit to the company for very good forcast of their target. They have been very good at being on the mark in the past.
Now, if Jeff Bezos commits to more consistent customer privacy policy, I would be a really happy customer (and shareholder too).
Only if (Score:1, Insightful)
Unless of course in the future a sucessful business is one that make a huge loss with no real path to profitability.
Yes Amazon is starting to go from loss, to break even and finally profit but I would hardly call them ahead of their time since at the end of the day they sell mainly Books, CD's, Video's and DVD's.
the internet is starting to work (Score:3, Insightful)
Used Items (Score:2, Insightful)
Ah, another speculator (Score:3, Insightful)
However, there are still a few people out there who actually look at company earnings and (wait for it...) dividends before buying a stock. If you've got a few spare bucks you want to gamble with, being one of these "investors" may not sound like fun, but people playing with their retirement funds might want to give it a try.
Profit, yes, but what kind ? (Score:2, Insightful)
I'm happy for the supposed turn for the better Amazon.com is experiencing, as much as I am for any bellweather Dot.Com. I'm just not sure I'd want to invest in them personally.
Re:Something to keep in mind (Score:3, Insightful)
Just because Amazon has a substantial amount of debt does not really mean all that much. Assuming that they remain profitable and cash flow positive, Amazon could well continue as the preemminent electronic commerce company for a very long time. The current market conditions have created substantial barriers to entry for new competition.
I am not saying that Amazon is a sure thing as a company, they have some rather creative accounting among other things that could spoil the party. As a growth stock it should have more risk than more slowly growing companies like Nordstrom or Federated Department Stores. At the same time, the company has consistantly achieved success against great odds and remained out of chapter 11, even as more established enterprises like K-Mart, Montgomery Ward or even Enron have hit hard times.
If you want to avoid all risk, you should probably stick with treasury bills.
Bill Gates should buy Amazon out (Score:3, Insightful)
While Microsoft doesn't appear to want to get into the retail market what-so-ever, Amazon would make a great outlet for their gear.
Re:Great, except that this company is in a defecit (Score:3, Insightful)
You're still taking a gamble that revenue growth will continue, but that seems a reasonable gamble - not an outrageous overvaluation.
All IMO, IANAL, etc.
Re:Lack of Internet growth scary? (Score:4, Insightful)
I've been into computers long before the Internet became popular, and I've invested far too much time and effort in this field to just give up on it because of a digital version of the California gold rush.
As long as those of us truly interested in and dedicated to I.T. stick out these "knee-jerk reaction" times, I think things will get back on track sooner, rather than later.
It's the big investors who got burned on the dot-com fiasco, so of course they're the ones out there now proclaiming that "The new economy didn't exist!" and "The next 10 years of the stock market will be driven by industry, brick-and-mortar stores, and traditional service providers." In their minds, it's the only outcome they're comfortable seeing.
The fact is, the Internet is growing up. We're quickly moving from the "wild, wild west" of Cyberspace to a more governed and commercialized space, where the "real world" reaches out and hangs a virtual hat. This also means that after the fallout from the craziness ends, we probably won't see fast growth like we used to see. Instead, we'll see small profits here and there, and a lot of failed commercial sites - paralleling the real business world.
Although I used to criticize Amazon.com for "dabbling" too much (seemed like Bezos wanted to sell everything under the sun, until of course, a particular item didn't pan out so well for him), I think his persistence at selling his core line of products (books and media) is starting to pan out.
Re: eBay (Score:3, Insightful)
(If you're making lots of cash, you don't want to settle for someone's used stuff. When money is tight or future money is unsure, those cheaper used items start to look like real good options.)
As for other sites like Amazon not benefiting like eBay is - that's really a no-brainer too.
eBay got into the game "early and often". They attained a critical mass of regular buyers and sellers. For a while, I used both eBay and Amazon auctions - but I gave up on Amazon auctions as they just weren't worth my listing fees anymore. (For every 1 item I'd successfully sell there, I'd sell 3 or 4 on eBay - and usually for higher bids.) You have to go where the "eyeballs" are when you want to sell. That starts a chain reaction, since the buyers want to go where the most items are to bid on.
Amazon never really pushed hard enough to win back the users migrating to eBay auctions. I think they had (maybe still have?) a chance to do it because they're another well-recognized Internet name. They'd need to take a loss for a while though, like offer all listings free for 9 months or so, and advertise it in magazines, etc.
Then, they'd also have to ensure they offered every single feature eBay does (dutch auctions, non-paying bidder alerts, easy online payment system, etc. etc.) if they want to keep those people.
Re:Ladies and Gentlemen... (Score:2, Insightful)
Hopefully we will now see the VC's been prepared to fund new start-up's which:
a: Have a real/realistic business case for generating revenue and growth.
b: That have realistic timescales to achive these targets.
Slowly, just slowly I believe that we are emerging from the dot-com mania fall out and returning to a more ratonal age for the perception of web based business based on business fundamentals.
Books, books, books! ... and some software (Score:3, Insightful)
I don't know if Amazon is going to change the world as a retailer, but it has changed the way everyone buys books. Even if you don't buy directly from Amazon, people will often look at the online reviews and than going check out the book in more detail at B&N or Borders.
I believe software is somewhat the same-though I generally don't buy a lot of MS stuff, when I do I check the reviews at Amazon. These are the sort of things where Amazon has developed a really good business model.
If it every does go bankrupt, I expect that they'll just shed all the extra stuff and pair back to light and information oriented items like books and software, they can always make money and they already have volume.