Amazon Q4 results seen on track

SEATTLE -- It was sink-or-swim last holiday season for Amazon.com Inc., and the online retailing giant is expected to show it can at least tread water when it reports its quarterly financial results next Tuesday.

Amazon (amzn), seen as a bellwether for the Web retailing sector, is expected to lose 26 cents a share for its fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, according to the consensus Wall Street estimate compiled by First Call/Thomson Financial.

It lost 55 cents a share a year earlier.

"It will be largely in line with what we were expecting," said Jeetil Patel, an analyst with Deutsche Bank. "The key message that people will want to hear is pretty much what is the guidance and what is the company doing to get to profitability," Patel said, referring to forecasts the company is likely to give for the current and coming quarters. -- Scott Hillis, Reuters