Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) has a history of treading on wafer-thin margins, but it seems that in 2011, investor patience was tested to the limit. Adjusted EBITDA margins fell from around 7% in 2010 to around 5.2% in 2011. While the stock suffered quite unsurprisingly, the big question is whether the company intends to put a brake on costs anytime soon. Amazon competes in the e-commerce and e-content space with companies like eBay (NASDAQ:EBAY) and Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL).
Articles for Amazon
Apple’s iPad Leads In Customer Ratings; Kindle Fire Follows
Graph ItNEW!Friday, February 3rd, 2012 by Trefis Team
Amazon’s (NASDAQ:AMZN) Kindle Fire may be much cheaper than the iPad but it lags behind when it comes to customer satisfaction, according to a survey conducted by market research firm Changewave Research. The survey revealed that 74% of Apple’s (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPad customers were ‘Very Satisfied’ with the tablet as opposed to 54% for the Fire. However, the Fire fared much better than its other tablet competitors, who received an average rating of 49% combined. We believe that customer satisfaction is a good indicator of the future demand for tablets and the Fire has done really well in the limited time it has had in the market, but the iPad will continue to set the pace for this relatively nascent industry.
Amazon’s Media Sales Were Sluggish But Kindle Fire Should Steer Stock Higher
Graph ItNEW!Friday, February 3rd, 2012 by Trefis Team
While Amazon’s (NASDAQ;AMZN) Q4 and full-year 2011 earnings results proved disappointing to investors leading to an 11% drop after the announcement, we continue to believe that Kindle Fire volumes would push both e-commerce and e-content sales upwards. In addition, the company’s technology and content costs should also slow down as existing Kindle Fire users make media-purchases on their devices in future. Amazon competes in the e-commerce and e-content space with companies like eBay (NASDAQ:EBAY) and Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL).
Amazon Expands Cloud Offering With Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Graph ItNEW!Friday, January 27th, 2012 by Trefis Team
Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) has launched another cloud service, this time targeting the enterprise space. According to the company’s press release, the AWS (Amazon Web Services) Storage Gateway has been launched as a beta version. The service is designed to integrate organization’s IT systems with back-up storage provided by Amazon’s S3 (Simple Storage Service). As other tech giants like Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) also gear up their cloud services, Amazon might push its cloud business much more aggressively in 2012.
Kindle Sales Will Fire up Amazon’s Earnings Next Week
Graph ItNEW!Thursday, January 26th, 2012 by Trefis Team
It’s common news that Kindle Fire is selling like hot cakes. But how many has Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) actually managed to sell in the fourth quarter? We’ll get more clarity on the actual numbers when the company releases its Q4 earnings on January 31. For now, all that Amazon has declared is that it has sold 1 million Kindle units each week of December 2011, while market research companies and equity analysts wriggle over their own estimates. IHS Suppli estimates 3.9 million, Barclays projects 5.5 million, and NPD DisplaySearch expects 6 million, according to a CNET report.
Whatever the number may be, this bodes well for Amazon which has been struggling with razor-thin margins and hopes that strong Kindle sales will lead to more consumption of its e-content in the form of e-books, games, video, music, etc. (See Amazon Q4 Preview: Can the Fire Keep Burning in 2012?)
Amazon’s River of News Ahead of Earnings
Graph ItNEW!Wednesday, January 25th, 2012 by Trefis Team
Amazon doesn’t announce results for Q4 2011 until next Tuesday (January 31). So far we’ve had a good showing from eBay (NASDAQ:EBAY) and Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) missed on revenue and CPCs declined substantially. You can see the Channel Adviser’s eBay coverage here.
eBay and Google’s results have created a veritable cacophony of speculative noise around Amazon’s results:
- eBay was light on GMV growth both domestically and international – also the BMV+CES categories were in serious decline – was Amazon a beneficiary of this (or a cause), or will they show the same trends?
- Google – you can surmise from their Google Prime initiative that they are reacting to what must be a big chunk of consumers (Amazon Prime subscribers) searching for products using google ‘less’. In his Q4 Google analysis, Henry Blodget pins the blame on Google’s revenue miss squarely on Amazon’s shoulders. Here’s the core of his argument: “as Amazon grows and offers a more comprehensive and informative product selection, more people may be starting their product searches at Amazon. This would cut Google out of the process entirely.” Further supporting this thesis, Google announced management changes in their e-commerce group that is adding fuel to the ‘Amazon caused the miss’ fire.
Kindle Fire Lifetime Value Should Give Investors Cheer Heading into Q4 Results
Graph ItNEW!Friday, January 20th, 2012 by Trefis Team
While Amazon’s (NASDAQ:AMZN) dangerously low margins are a source of concern in the upcoming full year 2011 results, a recent statistic released by RBC Capital Markets reaffirms our earlier stance that the media consumption on Kindle Fire would be instrumental in reviving future margins for the company. Amazon competes in the e-commerce and e-content space with companies like eBay (NASDAQ:EBAY).
Amazon Q4 Preview: Can the Fire Keep Burning in 2012?
Graph ItNEW!Thursday, January 19th, 2012 by Trefis Team
After beating holiday sales records with the Kindle Fire, Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) is undoubtedly expected to rake in hefty revenues in Q4 2011, driven by hardware sales and media consumption on its Kindle devices. However, the company’s high cost structure continues to be a worrying factor. By our estimates, the company’s adjusted EBITDA margin is expected to drop to below 2.5% for the year 2011, and Amazon is be hoping that heavy e-content consumption on the Kindle Fire can turn this around.
Amazon’s LOVEFiLM Ready for Netflix in the UK
Graph ItNEW!Tuesday, January 10th, 2012 by Trefis Team
Amazon’s (NASDAQ:AMZN) expansion foray continues, as the e-content giant entered into 2 more TV streaming deals with BBC Worldwide and ITV, which should strengthen its European TV streaming arm LOVEFiLM further. While Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) itself is entering partnerships as it rolls out its UK and Ireland expansion, Amazon’s reach can ensure that LOVEFiLM’s market share is maintained.
Amazon : All Articles
- Week of 2012-01-29
- 02/03/12 Amazon’s Margins: When Will They Improve?
- 02/03/12 Apple’s iPad Leads In Customer Ratings; Kindle Fire Follows
- 02/03/12 Amazon’s Media Sales Were Sluggish But Kindle Fire Should Steer Stock Higher
- Week of 2012-01-22
- 01/27/12 Amazon Expands Cloud Offering With Amazon Web Services (AWS)
- 01/26/12 Kindle Sales Will Fire up Amazon’s Earnings Next Week
- 01/25/12 Amazon’s River of News Ahead of Earnings
- Week of 2012-01-15
- 01/20/12 Kindle Fire Lifetime Value Should Give Investors Cheer Heading into Q4 Results
- 01/19/12 Amazon Q4 Preview: Can the Fire Keep Burning in 2012?
- Week of 2012-01-08
- Week of 2012-01-01
- Week of 2011-12-18
- Week of 2011-12-04
- 12/08/11 Retailers Fume Over Amazon’s Price Check App
- 12/05/11 Amazon Heads to $230: Kindle Fire Rapidly Takes #2 Position in Tablet Market
- Week of 2011-11-27
- 12/01/11 Would a Kindle Phone be as Helpful to Amazon as the Fire?
- 11/28/11 Amazon Makes a Killing on Black Friday Despite Looming Economic Concerns
- Week of 2011-11-20
- Week of 2011-11-13
- 11/18/11 Mobile Weekly Summary: Amazon, Apple, RIM and Qualcomm
- 11/18/11 Amazon Increases Kindle Fire Orders as Demand Still Rising
- Week of 2011-11-06
- 11/09/11 Kindle Cloud Enables Readers to Access Kindle Library on Any Device
- 11/06/11 Amazon buys second largest online bookseller in U.K.
- Week of 2011-10-30
- 11/04/11 Kindle Sales, Global Expansion Take Amazon’s Intl. Electronics & Merchandise Market Share Higher
- 11/01/11 Despite Amazon’s Margin Squeeze, Kindle & eCommerce Sales Offer Upside
- Week of 2011-10-16
- 10/21/11 Amazon Q3 Preview: What We’re Watching Next Week
- 10/18/11 Amazon Stock Riding High on Kindle Fire Sales Expectations
- 10/17/11 Patent Trolls Putting the Heat on Kindle Fire
- Week of 2011-10-02
- 10/07/11 Apple Takes Tablet Battle with Amazon to the Cloud with iCloud Next Week
- 10/03/11 Internet Weekly Notes: Google, Yahoo and Amazon
- Week of 2011-09-25
- 09/30/11 Amazon Heads to $240 as New Kindle Lights a Fire in its E-Commerce Biz
- 09/28/11 Amazon’s Kindle Fire Could Make Microsoft’s Tablet Entry Even More Difficult
- Week of 2011-09-11
- Week of 2011-08-28
- Week of 2011-07-31
- 08/03/11 Groupon Should Spare Investors the Pain and Sell NOW
- 08/01/11 Margin Squeeze Limits Amazon’s Upside
- Week of 2011-07-24
- 07/26/11 Amazon Fuels International Growth with The Book Depository Acquisition
- 07/25/11 Amazon Earnings Preview: New Initiatives in Focus
- Week of 2011-05-29
- Week of 2011-05-22
- Week of 2011-05-08
- Week of 2011-05-01
- 05/04/11 Will Netflix Enter the UK?
- Week of 2011-04-17
- 04/22/11 Amazon’s Server Crash Raises Reliability Questions Surrounding the Cloud
- 04/22/11 Trefis Morning Coffee (4/21) – Amazon, Suntech Power, Time Warner & Jones Apparel Group
- 04/19/11 Netflix Earnings Preview: Subscribers & Content Acquisition Costs in Focus
- Week of 2011-04-10
- 04/14/11 Investors Shouldn’t Get Too Excited Over New Discounted Kindle
- 04/12/11 Trefis Morning Coffee – Intel, Netflix, Amazon & L’Oreal
- 04/11/11 Trefis Morning Coffee – Wal-Mart, Amazon, Microsoft & Coach
- 04/10/11 The Trefis Top 5 – April 10 Insights
- Week of 2011-04-03
- Week of 2011-03-27
- Week of 2011-03-13
- Week of 2011-02-20
- 02/25/11 How Amazon Prime Video Streaming Can Compete with Netflix
- 02/24/11 Sam’s Club Could Perk up Wal-Mart Sales if it Was More like Costco
- Week of 2011-02-13
- Week of 2011-01-30
- 02/04/11 Amazon Continues to Invest Heavily to Grow Top Line
- 02/02/11 Video Streaming with a Side of Free 2-Day Shipping
- Week of 2011-01-23
- Week of 2011-01-16
- 01/19/11 Online Retail Momentum and Smartphone Proliferation Lift Outlook for Amazon
- 01/18/11 Is Best Buy Losing its Edge?
- Week of 2011-01-09
- 01/10/11 Potential Rise in Web Service Margins Provides Little Upside to Amazon
- 01/10/11 December Retail Slowdown Not a Concern for Wal-Mart
- Week of 2011-01-02
- 01/07/11 Amazon Could Rise on Excellent Operational Efficiency
- 01/05/11 iPad to Continue its Reign Despite Flurry of Tablets in 2011
- 01/05/11 Amazon’s App Store Underscores Rising Competition for Apple’s App Store
- 01/03/11 Upside and Downside Scenarios for eBay on Holiday Shopping Trends
- Week of 2010-12-26
- 12/30/10 Amazon Benefits From Increasing Penetration of Online Retail Sales
- 12/29/10 Tough to Justify Akamai’s $48 Stock Price on Valuation
- 12/28/10 Netflix Stock is a Risky Bet with Market Saturation on the Horizon
- Week of 2010-12-19
- 12/22/10 Amazon – Trefis Price Estimate Raised as Shoppers Move Online
- 12/21/10 Costco – Electronics Market Share Opportunity is an Uphill Battle
- 12/21/10 Wal-Mart’s Selective Discounting to Drive Sales, Maintain Margins
- Week of 2010-12-12
- 12/18/10 Can Best Buy Correct Product Missteps?
- 12/16/10 Google Could Approach Record High on Online Shopping Growth
- 12/16/10 Cash Productivity Best Buy vs. Wal-Mart’s US Stores
- 12/15/10 Will Best Buy’s Earnings Miss Weigh on Wal-Mart?
- 12/14/10 PayPal Gaining on Bill Me Later and eBay Partner Sites
- Week of 2010-12-05
- Week of 2010-11-28
- 12/02/10 Cisco Could Gain on Small Businesses Spending
- 12/01/10 Despite Glamour, iPad Still a Small Portion of Apple Value
- Week of 2010-11-21
- 11/23/10 Cisco is Still a $24 Stock
- Week of 2010-11-14
- 11/18/10 Google’s Foray Into Fashion – Boutiques.com
- 11/17/10 iPhone’s Standalone Business Worth More Than All But 8 Companies in the World
- 11/15/10 Wal-Mart’s Online Push – Does it Make Sense?
- Week of 2010-10-31
- 11/05/10 10% Upside to eBay from Higher Merchandise Listings
- 11/04/10 30% Netflix Upside From Falling Subscriber Acquisition Costs
- Week of 2010-10-24
- Week of 2010-10-17
- Week of 2010-10-10
- Week of 2010-10-03
- Week of 2010-09-26
- 09/30/10 Best Buy Stock Close to its Intrinsic Value
- 09/29/10 Lower eBay Take Rates Can Drive More Listings
- Week of 2010-09-19
- 09/24/10 Higher Payments Through PayPal to Benefit eBay
- 09/22/10 Amazon’s Kindle Sales Expected to Rise
- Week of 2010-09-12
- 09/16/10 Mobile Sales Drive Margin Growth for Best Buy
- 09/14/10 Best Buy’s Mobile Stores Unlikely to Move Stock
- 09/13/10 Can Google Challenge iTunes?
- Week of 2010-09-05
- Week of 2010-08-29
- 08/31/10 3D TV May Not Boost Best Buy Stock
- Week of 2010-08-22
- 08/26/10 Expectations Higher for Amazon’s Kindle Sales
- 08/25/10 7% Downside to eBay from Slower Listing and Pricing Growth
- 08/23/10 Trefis Members Expect Slower Decline in iPad Pricing
- Week of 2010-08-15
- Week of 2010-08-08
- Week of 2010-08-01
- 08/06/10 Modest Upside to Apple from Higher iPad Sales
- 08/05/10 Trefis Members Expect Small Amazon Boost from Higher Kindle Margins and Units
- 08/02/10 5% Downside for Amazon if Spending Spree Continues
- Week of 2010-07-25
- 07/28/10 iPad Business Worth More Than Mac Notebooks for Apple
- 07/26/10 Trefis Members More Conservative on iPad Sales and Apple Upside
- Week of 2010-07-18
- Week of 2010-07-11
- Week of 2010-07-04
- Week of 2010-06-20
- 06/24/10 Three Amazon Initiatives That Can Make eBooks a Billion Dollar Business
- 06/23/10 Kindle Price Cuts Will Help Sales but Hurt Amazon’s Margins
- Week of 2010-05-16
- Week of 2010-05-09
- Week of 2010-05-02
- 05/06/10 Netflix Dodges New Release Competition in Pay-Per-View Market
- 05/05/10 Is Amazon Sacrificing its Margins for Growth?
- 05/04/10 Upside to Apple’s Stock if iPad Sales Exceed 4 Million Units
- Week of 2010-03-07
- 03/09/10 Apple Could Earn $400 Million in 2010 from Ebooks Alone
- 03/09/10 Apple Could Sell 48 Million Ebooks in 2010
- 03/09/10 Apple Ebooks Priced at an Average of $8
- 03/08/10 Touch Kindle Can Compete Better with iPad and Boost Amazon’s Stock
- Week of 2010-02-28
- Week of 2010-02-21
- Week of 2010-02-14
- Week of 2010-01-31
- 02/06/10 How Amazon’s Stock Price Can Reach $180+
- 02/02/10 Amazon Drives Kindle Sales Using Higher E-Book Royalties for Authors
- Week of 2010-01-24
- 01/26/10 Kindle Apps vs. iPhone Apps
- Week of 2009-12-20
- Week of 2009-12-13
- Week of 2009-10-18
- 10/19/09 How much could Wal-Mart hurt Amazon?
- Week of 2009-08-23
- Week of 2009-08-02