Glenn, has Kiggen ever returned your call? LOL.
Btw
The only strong buy on Amzn left is Legg Mason. Considering they are the largest elephant owning Amzn stock...do you blame them? <vbg>
Kiggen had a $225 price target on Amzn. Wow! how things have changed.
>AMAZON.COM (AMZN: $14.9375) 1/9/01
Amazon.Com Announces Preliminary Fourth Quarter Results
Annual EPS Prev. EPS
12/01E ($0.55)
12/00E ($1.18)
12/99A ($1.19)
Rating: BUY Change: 12-Mo. Target: $45
Amazon.com announced preliminary fourth quarter results yesterday, posting results at the low end of the Wall Street consensus range of estimates for its revenue and gross margin, but better-than-expected cash and inventory positions as well as strong new customer growth.
The company announced that its net sales for the fourth quarter will exceed $960 million, 40% growth year-over-year, but lower than our projected $1 billion revenue estimate (47.9% growth year-over-year). The range of Wall Street estimates of its revenue was from $950 million to $1.05 billion.
Gross profit at over $210 million is an increase of 140% year-over-year and 26% sequentially, and below our estimate of $239 million. Gross margin was 21.9%, 200 basis points below our model.
AMZN increased its cash position by almost $200 million during the quarter, ending with approximately $1.1 billion in cash and marketable securities, up from $900 million in the third quarter, with $35-40 million of that balance coming in the form of equity stakes in partners like Webvan and Sotheby's. This latter sum was down from $95 million in the third quarter.
The company's inventory level was lower year-over-year at $175 million versus $220.6 million last year, and up slightly from the third quarter, when inventory was at $164 million.
Amazon added 4 million new customers during the fourth quarter, which is better than our estimate of 3 million net additions, and above the 3.8 million new customers in the fourth quarter of 1999.
We are reducing our 2001 revenue estimate from $4.1 billion to $3.7 billion and our operating profit decreases by $0.5 million. We maintain our Buy rating on the stock. Our 12-month share price target drops from $60 to $45. |
