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Technology Stocks : Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Victor Lazlo who wrote (120291)	3/12/2001 9:33:04 PM
From: GST	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 164684

Victor: Help me out -- to which inventory build-up are you referring?

To: Victor Lazlo who wrote (120291)	3/13/2001 11:21:33 AM
From: Rob S.	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 164684

This may have alredy been posted but anyway: -TOP STORIES- ** Bezos' Comments Hint At Gloomy Future For Amazon If there were any doubts remaining that these are scary times for Internet darling Amazon.com Inc., they were erased Monday when the British Broadcasting Corp. released portions of an interview with Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos in which he suggested that Internet stocks, and Amazon in particular, might not be a wise investment. Analysts reacted with uniform shock that Bezos, historically a major cheerleader for the online retail sector, would choose to make such caustic comments to a major media outlet. In taping an interview that will air Wednesday on BBC Two's "Money Programme," Bezos cautioned investors to steer clear of "volatile" Internet stocks and cast a cloud over the value of his own company. "We are not a stock you can sleep well with at night," he's reported to have said. The comments were particularly revealing when coupled with ongoing reports that the Securities and Exchange Commission is looking into Bezos' sale of 800,000 shares of Amazon stock in early February, just before the release of a negative report on the company's future from Lehman Brothers. Amazon execs reportedly received an advance copy of the report. Some analysts suggested that Bezos was trying to lower estimates for the fourth quarter of 2001. Doing so, they say, would protect him from any additional SEC scrutiny should Amazon disappoint. During its year-end earnings announcement in January, the company predicted it would become profitable for the first time by the end of this year. Few analysts are expecting that now. And investors seemed to be equally skeptical in the wake of Bezos' comments, sending the company's stock (Stock: AMZN) down more than 13% Monday to close at $10.63. An Amazon spokeswoman downplayed the interview, saying Bezos merely meant to suggest that Internet stocks are "not for the weak of heart." But Kevin Noonan of the Yankee Group says Bezos has a lot to worry about, including the realization that Amazon's whole business model may have been flawed from the outset. "I've never heard Jeff say something so anti-Amazon," Noonan says. "Has he finally figured it out?" Gartner's Rob Labatt questions how long Amazon can rely on venture capital to subsidize consumer E-commerce. Labatt says that Bezos' comments, while surprising, should be taken to heart by investors who've largely ignored the bottom line when purchasing dot-com stocks. "The laws of economics still apply to Internet companies." Meanwhile, Keenan Vision analyst Vern Keenan went so far as to suggest that Amazon's free-falling market capitalization may pose a significant threat to Bezos, which would make his comments to the BBC all the more curious. Keenan says Amazon's woes are tied in large part to Bezos' devotion to the company's famous "grow big fast" philosophy. "The reliance on [that] mantra may end up costing him his job." - Tony Kontzer