To all,
I'm not trying to be rude. But the ignorance by some people on this board is a little stunning. People think just because the company loses money for a few years, like many startups, that it should be worth next to nothing. Fooey! AMZN has gone from nothing in 1995 to the leading internet retailer in 1998....and internet commerce is just in its infancy. This year, I think most people would agree, AMZN seems poised to hit $450 million in revenue, give or take a few million.
That's not to say the stock won't correct significantly at some point. Certainly, since July of last year, the stock is up almost 5 fold. A fall from its peak of 100 was bound to happen. But this won't change the main trend...which is up.
What about competition? People everywhere always seems so afraid about competition. The fact is that this is the 1990's, and everyone has a capable competitor. But AMZN has a big lead. On CNBC the other day, the head of Barnesandnoble.com said he expects sales of $100 million this year. THis is less than a quarter of AMZN's book sales for this year. Probably more importantly, he claimed that internet selling like this actually increases the entire book market....as in expanding the pie. Everyone will benefit from this trend.
FInally, there is all the hubbub about valuation. Certainly, AMZN may look expensive here. But in reality, AMZN is trading only around 4 to 5 times 1998 sales....not extremely expensive considering its growing better than 100% a year, is the leader in internet retailing, and is very well managed. Many of you complain that AMZN has a market cap near that of Barnes and Noble.....but AMZN is registering explosive growth, and isn't just a book store...they plan to be a giant retailer, selling books, music, videos, and who know what else.
Please realize that even if AMZN can only barely hold on to a dominant position on the web, that they'll be able to ride the wave of internet commerce for years to come. JUst my opinion.
ACey |
