Thomson Reuters analysts projected an earnings-per-share (EPS) loss of $0.74 per share and $20.84 billion in revenue. Amazon missed estimates, instead reporting an EPS loss of $0.95 a share on revenue of $20.58 billion.
In the same period a year ago, the world's largest online retailer posted an EPS loss of $0.09 per share and sales of $17.09 billion. And in its most recent quarter, AMZN reported an EPS loss of $0.27 and revenue of $19.34 billion.
It's easy to spot the trend here. EPS losses coupled with impressive sales have been the story of Amazon's business the last few years, and today's no different. In fact, the company hasn't turned a profit since 2012.
That's why AMZN stock is taking a hit today.
But EPS losses are normal for AMZN. Instead, there are two more important factors to digest in AMZN's earnings. One is product performance. The other is a number our expert stresses as the key takeaway for investors today...
Amazon's eye toward innovation appears to be paying off. Today the retailer said net sales are expected to be between $27.3 billion and $30.3 billion, or to grow between 7% and 18% compared with fourth quarter 2013.
"As we get ready for this upcoming holiday season, we are focused on making the customer experience easier and more stress-free than ever," Amazon Founder and Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bezos said in a statement today.
The company's next big project is to open a handful of brick-and-mortar retail shops around the country. It has confirmed locations in San Francisco, Sacramento, and Manhattan. These pop-up shops will give shoppers a chance to try out products, place web orders on Amazon.com, and pick up deliveries on site.
Because of the amount of cash it pumps into expansion, Robinson views AMZN as a growth stock - more like a biotech company than a typical retailer. And that means investors have to be patient.
"This is the kind of thing growth investors have to deal with on a regular basis. The next leg up for a company means at least a few quarters of losses on a per share basis because it's expensive to ramp up," Robinson said in late July. "I don't think they know how long their build out is going to take, and so they intentionally leave earnings reports and calls vague to give some wiggle room."
Of course, investors hate uncertainty. That's why AMZN stock has fallen more than 20% this year, and was down more than 11% after hours today.
"You have no sense of when this fabulous growth in sales is going to come together," Robinson said. "But Amazon's probably the best e-commerce platform on earth, and when it does come together, it'll create EPS that we can count on for a long time."
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