Amazon today reported first quarter earnings that beat Wall Street's estimates but investors may be concerned about forecasts for the second quarter and sent shares back down in after-hours trading.
For the first quarter, the company saw a 68 percent year-over-year gain in net income, which came in at $299 million, or 66 cents per share, on revenue of $7.13 billion, a 46 percent jump from the year-ago quarter. Analysts had been expecting earnings per share of 61 cents on sales of $6.8 billion. (Statement)
In its statement, the company once again points to Kindle as its "#1 bestselling product" but once again fails to provide any sales figures on the device - something that is becoming increasingly more relevant with the arrival of the iPad and the expectation that other tablet devices will be landing soon. In a statement, CEO and founder Jeff Bezos said:
We remain heads-down focused on customers. Amazon Prime has just celebrated its fifth anniversary, adoption of Amazon Web Services continues to accelerate, Kindle remains our #1 bestselling product, and earlier this week, Kindle selection reached 500,000 titles.
In a conference call, the company reminded analysts that the revenue reflected a change in accounting as it relates to Kindle sales - Amazon recognizes a substantial portion of a Kindle sale as hardware, recognizing it immediately - impacted the results. Likewise, this was the first full quarter with Zappos in the mix.
Looking ahead, the company forecast second quarter revenue to come in between $6.1 billion and $6.7 billion, a gain of 31 percent to 44 percent, compared to a year ago. Wall Street had been expecting an revenue forecast of $6.42 billion - a miss, in the eyes of Wall Street.
By the numbers:
- North America segment sales were $3.78 billion, up 47 percent from the year-ago quarter.
- International segment sales were $3.35 billion, a 45 percent jump from a year ago.
- Worldwide Media sales were $3.43 billion, up 26 percent.
- Worldwide Electronics and Other General Merchandise sales were $3.51 billion, a 72 percent jump.
Shares of the company were up more than two percent, closing at $150.09. Shares immediately dipped after the results were announced. (see chart)
