Evidently the dour economic climate has failed to halt the dominating charge of online retail giant Amazon, which has this week blasted past Wall Street expectations for the fourth quarter of 2008 by posted an 18 percent increase in sales.
Recession? Amazon sitting pretty on a beach of filthy lucre. Image: Joe Shlabotnik/Flickr.
Announced this past Thursday, news of Amazon’s continued growth despite a recession that’s already impacted tech industry heavyweights such as Microsoft, Sony and Dell, resulted in a sudden share surge that saw values rise 12 percent to $56.70 USD in after-hours trading.
In terms of actual numbers, Amazon reported net income of $225 million USD for the fourth quarter (ending December 31), which equates to a per-share value of $0.52 USD. Its good fortune translates to a year-on-year increase of nine percent when measured against the $207 million USD and per-share value of $0.48 USD it posted in 2007.
Similarly, Amazon’s fourth-quarter sales jumped from $5.67 billion USD in 2007 through to $6.70 billion USD, which is an 18 percent push that surpasses initial analyst expectations that were set at $6.44 billion USD.
While clearly benefiting from sustained consumer loyalty regardless of the global downturn, Amazon hasn’t completely escaped the recession’s clutches, and claims its fourth-quarter sales would have reached an increase of 24 percent had poor currency exchange rates not intervened.
With the traditionally busy festive period now passed, CNNMoney reports that Amazon expects first-quarter revenues for 2009 to fall somewhere between $4.52 billion USD and $4.92 billion USD. Current Wall Street estimates are sitting on the lower end of that prediction at $4.54 billion USD.
Having experienced its “best ever” holiday season at the end of 2008 and selling a record 13 items per minute at one point during December, Amazon saw year-on-year category improvements across the store, with media sales up nine percent, while electronics and other general merchandise improved by 31 percent.
News of Amazon’s ongoing rosy outlook comes after online auction specialist eBay reported fourth-quarter figures that landed below estimates. The company also offered a reduced prediction for its first-quarter performance.
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