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


To: Glenn D. Rudolph who wrote (145653)8/17/2002 8:51:05 PM
From: H James Morris  Read Replies (3) | Respond to of 164684
 
THE GREEDY BUNCH
You Bought. They Sold.
Meet the 25 companies with the greediest executives. Of the big companies whose stocks dropped 75% or more from their boom-time peak, these are the ones where officers and directors took out the most money via stock sales from January 1999 through May 2002. An exclusive study by FORTUNE, Thomson Financial, and the University of Chicago’s Center for Research in Securities Pricing.

View list by: Company Executives
COMPANY
Rank Company Total Sold Top Seller
1 Qwest Communications $2.26 billion Philip Anschutz
2 Broadcom $2.08 billion Henry Samueli
3 AOL Time Warner $1.79 billion Steve Case
4 Gateway $1.27 billion Ted Waitt
5 Ariba $1.24 billion Rob DeSantis
6 JDS Uniphase $1.15 billion Kevin Kalkhoven
7 i2 Technologies $1.03 billion Sanjiv Sidhu
8 Sun Microsystems $1.03 billion Bill Joy
9 Enron $994 million Lou Pai
10 Global Crossing $951 million Gary Winnick
11 Charles Schwab $951 million Charles Schwab
12 Yahoo $901 million Tim Koogle
13 Cisco Systems $851 million John Chambers
14 Peregrine Systems $818 million John Moores
15 Sycamore Networks $726 million Gururaj Deshpande
16 Nextel Communications $615 million Craig McCaw
17 Foundry Networks $582 million Bobby Johnson
18 Juniper Networks $557 million Scott Kriens
19 Infospace $541 million Naveen Jain
20 Commerce One $531 million Thomas Gonzales
21 AT&T $475 million John Malone
22 Network Appliance $470 million David Hitz
23 Inktomi $431 million Paul Gauthier
24 Priceline $417 million Jay Walker
25 Vignette $413 million Ross Garber

Amounts were checked, when possible, with company officials and the officers and directors involved. Amounts include sales by corporations entirely or largely controlled by the sellers, such as Phil Anschutz’s Anschutz Co., Jay Walker’s Walker Digital, and John Moores’ JMI, as well as trusts and stock sales by immediate family. Not included are sales and transfers of stock, sometimes linked to exotic derivatives, that are not recorded as sales by the SEC. The totals here include all sales reported to the SEC, reporting which usually (but not in every case) continues until an officer or a director leaves the company.

fortune.com



To: Glenn D. Rudolph who wrote (145653)8/18/2002 12:14:20 AM
From: H James Morris  Read Replies (2) | Respond to of 164684
 
BEZOS
Amazon's Second Act
The stock has trounced its Nasdaq peers this year. And it still has room to run.
FORTUNE
Monday, September 2, 2002
By Fred Vogelstein

This year's stock market carnage has not only been depressing but also bizarre. Warren Buffett is buying telecom stocks. SEC chairman Harvey Pitt wants a raise. And--get this--the best-performing stock on the Nasdaq 100 this year is--Amazon.com. That's no misprint. Amazon.com ( AMZN, $14), the company whose fortunes became synonymous with the euphoria and despair of the Internet bubble, has seen its stock rise 32% this year and is increasingly convincing investors that steady gains are here to stay.

There's actually nothing bubble-esque about why the market is warming to Amazon again. After losing faith last year that the seven-year-old company would ever make money, investors are coming to realize that founder and CEO Jeff Bezos actually knows how to run a business. With a combination of innovative productivity enhancements and shrewd marketing, he and his team have reduced operating expenses 32% in the year ended June 30 while increasing revenues 17%.

A big chunk of the savings has come from running the company's warehouses more efficiently and switching most of its computer operations from Sun machines to the less expensive Linux operating system running on Intel-powered servers. Meanwhile, Bezos's idea last year of selling used goods on the same page as new items and of cleverly offering free shipping on purchases over $49 has boosted revenues beyond most expectations. Amazon now forecasts revenue growth this year to be north of 18%, up three percentage points from its earlier estimate.

Amazon still isn't profitable and probably won't be for a while. Part of the reason is the company's recent decision to expense stock options (see Congress Scores One for Your Portfolio). But this year, for the first time, it is expected to take in more cash than it uses. By the end of 2002, in fact, analysts expect the company to be generating enough cash to pay the interest on its onerous $2.2 billion debt load and still have a little left over. "A year ago investors wouldn't touch Amazon with a ten-foot pole. Now for many it's all they want to talk to me about," says Safa Rashtchy of Piper Jaffray, who has a price target of $17 on the stock. Indeed, big mutual funds like Fidelity and Janus are loading up on it, while short-sellers, who gloated as it hit $6, have now covered their positions.

Still, Amazon remains one of the most controversial stock picks out there. And in many ways the debate hasn't changed. Supporters, such as value czar Bill Miller, whose Legg Mason Value Trust now owns 18% of Amazon's shares (see It's Bill Miller's Time," Dec. 10, 2001), say it is well on its way toward creating an entirely new and better business model for retailers--the customer service of a Nordstrom with the pricing power of Wal-Mart. Detractors counter that Amazon is nothing more than an interactive catalog company. Its biggest business, books, has notoriously low-margins. And, like many retailers, it hasn't been able to get around the problem of what to do with warehouse capacity outside the Christmas season.

One thing, however, is now clear: Amazon is going to be around long enough for everyone to figure out which camp is right--and to make investors money in the meantime.

fortune.com