RE"ANZN-->``We would avoid the stock,'' Courtney wrote in a report, though he kept his ``market performer'' rating on the shares. Courtney didn't immediately return calls seeking a comment."
What kind of analyst tells people to avoid a stock yet keeps a ``market performer'' rating on the stock?
WHAT A FRIGIN JOKE. UNFRICKINBELIEVABLE!!
Amazoncom Shares Fall on Concern About Sales Growth
Seattle, Nov. 28 (Bloomberg) -- Amazon.com Inc. shares fell 11 percent after Banc of America Securities analyst Tom Courtney said he would ``avoid'' the unprofitable Internet retailer amid concerns that sales growth would continue to slow.
The stock, which has lost 67 percent of its value this ``We would avoid the stock,'' Courtney wrote in a report, though he kept his ``market performer'' rating on the shares. Courtney didn't immediately return calls seeking a comment.
year, fell $2.97 to $25.03. It dropped to as low as $24.63 earlier in the day.
Outright sell ratings are scarce on Wall Street. Of all the analyst ratings tracked by Bloomberg, less than 2 percent are ``sells.'' More than 73 percent are ``buys,'' and about a quarter of them are ``holds.''
Amazon.com, which had a cumulative loss of $1.75 billion as of Sept. 30, has received three ``sell'' ratings, 19 ``buys'' and nine ``holds'' among analysts who follow the stock.
``To us, it should be as simple as buy or sell, do you like the stock or not,'' said Francois Parenteau, chief executive of Parenteau Corp. of Montreal, which began coverage of Amazon.com in March, when the stock was above $60, with a ``sell.''
Courtney has rated Amazon.com a ``market performer'' since late July, when he lowered his recommendation from ``buy.''
Sales Growth Slowing
Courtney cited Amazon.com's slowing sales growth as a reason for avoiding the stock.
Based on the midpoint of Amazon.com's fourth-quarter sales forecast of $950 million to $1.05 billion, year-to-year sales growth would slow to 47 percent, Courtney wrote in his report. That would trail the third quarter's 79 percent jump. Investors should question the size of the projected drop in the growth rate, especially because it comes during the holidays, he wrote.
``Either the company's fourth-quarter guidance is extremely conservative, or its rate of revenue growth is expected to slow down quite dramatically,'' Courtney wrote.
Sales growth in 2001 is expected to slow further, to 40 percent, while the Seattle-based company is expected to have a loss for the year of $700 million, based on generally accepted accounting principals, Courtney added.
``We find it increasingly difficult to justify the company's valuation in light of its profit outlook, as well as near-term trends in its rate of growth,'' he wrote.
`Good Speculation'
Other analysts said November sales have been impressive, helped by a free-shipping promotion for orders of $100 of more, and that they still recommend the stock.
``At current levels, the stock is a good speculation,'' Dain Rauscher Wessels analyst George Sutton wrote in a report. He has a ``buy'' rating on the stock and expects the company to generate sales of $500 million to $525 million in November.
On the day after Thanksgiving, Amazon.com attracted 1.3 million visitors to its site, even as an unspecified glitch shut down the site for about half an hour at midday, according to Nielsen/NetRatings, which tracks Internet traffic. That was a 36 percent jump from the visitor level on the same day a year ago.
Overall, U.S. online retail sales in the week ended Sunday rose 30 percent from the year-ago period to $746.8 million, said BizRate.com, which collects consumer ratings of Web retailers.
The pace of the increase lagged some forecasts for the full holiday season, some of which call for a doubling of Web sales. BizRate Vice President Seth Geiger said he expects larger gains in the coming weeks as shoppers finish up their holiday buying.
Wireless Phones Store
Amazon.com officials weren't immediately available to comment on Courtney's report.
Separately, the company said it's opening a wireless telephone store, offering cellular phones, services and accessories, at midnight tonight. Customers will receive an introductory $50 discount on cell phone and accessory purchases of $100 or more.
``The No. 1 request from customers has been, `When are you going to sell wireless products like cell phones,' '' Amazon.com Chief Executive Jeff Bezos said at a news conference in Seattle.
The new store will offer service plans from AT&T Wireless Group, Sprint PCS and VoiceStream Wireless, and accessories by Samsung Corp. and other manufacturers.
Nov/28/2000 16:19 ET
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