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

To: llamaphlegm who wrote (11776)	7/25/1998 11:25:00 PM
From: llamaphlegm	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 164684

Oh, if I understand this correctly (and I use TMF logic), at this rate, when amzn grows even more popular there will be no one left in the planet who actually buys books, since we'll all be too busy just point and clicking away. I sure hope that cd market goes well! July 16, 1998, Thursday Section: Circuits Survey Finds TV Is Major Casualty of Net Surfing By MATT RICHTEL MOST of us know that Internet use is up. But what is down? With only 24 hours in a day, is cyberspace stealing time from sleeping, stepping on the Stairmaster, watching television or working? The answer, according to a new survey, is all of the above. The activity taking the biggest hit is television- and VCR-watching, according to the survey by Strategis Group, a Washington-based research firm that studies patterns in telecommunications use. Nearly 65 percent of 500 Net users surveyed said they had sacrificed time in front of the TV for time in front of the computer monitor. Forty-eight percent said they spent less time reading, and 29 percent said they slept less. The survey results, issued at the end of June, seemed to validate a trend reported in a similar poll last year by a New York research company, Cyber Dialogue. It found that in addition to spending less time with their television sets, 22 percent of Internet regulars were also spending less time making long-distance phone calls. Cyber Dialogue further found that 16 percent of Net surfers were spending less time reading newspapers; an identical percentage spent less time reading magazines.

To: llamaphlegm who wrote (11776)	7/25/1998 11:35:00 PM
From: llamaphlegm	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 164684

I am slowing down!! In the midst of all that reading, I missed this gem re; Mark's diamond. Remember all that hype about hiring walmart talent for execution, and how the bears all said, "what execution, we thought that amzn was a cyber company, no real world costs." well kids read this quote slowly and bulls, before you start stammering out justifications and explanations that back up your view, just think quietly if this sounds like a company ready to expand into all sorts of industries when they can't even handle the book volume they've got. Amazon recently hired a new logistics manager, Jimmy Wright, from Wal-Mart Stores Inc. That should help Amazon significantly in "managing the entire supply chain as we grow," Mr. Bezos said. While Amazon's on-line ordering system is state of the art, its warehouses and shipping departments aren't as advanced. The Wall Street Journal Interactive Edition -- July 23, 1998 Amazon.com Posts Better Revenue; Net Loss Is in Line With Estimates By GEORGE ANDERS Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL Amazon.com Inc., the Seattle on-line bookstore, reported that sales more than quadrupled in the second quarter, to $116 million, while the company incurred a $21.2 million net loss. The revenue growth was even faster than Wall Street analysts had expected, and the company's loss, adjusted for noncash charges, was slightly narrower than expectations. Steve Horen, an analyst at NationsBanc Montgomery Securities, said he was impressed by Amazon's "great customer growth" in the quarter. Amazon said it added 880,000 customer accounts in the quarter, bringing its total to 3.1 million. Amazon also said 63% of its business came from repeat customers, up from 60% in the first quarter. "You want to see that number going up," said Shaun Andrikopoulos, an analyst at BT Alex. Brown & Sons. "It shows they have a strong franchise." Amazon's sales growth didn't come cheaply, though. In the latest quarter, the company said it spent $26.5 million on marketing, equivalent to 23% of sales. By comparison, Amazon's first-quarter marketing outlays totaled $19.5 million, or 22% of sales. The company has spent millions of dollars to make its name ubiquitous on the Internet; it also has increased its radio advertising and has handed out discount coupons in several cities. Joy Covey, chief financial officer, defended the marketing outlays, saying they are "designed to help build a lasting, important company, and, long term, to provide shareholder returns." Amazon, formed in 1994, has steadily reported losses since going public last year. Nonetheless, its stock has been a highflier, as investors are attracted to the company's rapid growth and its leadership position in electronic commerce. Amazon announced its results Wednesday after trading closed, but during the day its stock rose $1.9375 a share, to $134, in Nasdaq Stock Market trading. In after-hours trading reported by Instinet Inc., Amazon changed hands at $135, up a further $1. During the quarter, Amazon began selling compact disks on-line. The company's chief executive officer, Jeff Bezos, declined to give specific data about music sales, but said the company is "super pleased" with results so far. Mr. Bezos also confirmed that Amazon is considering an expansion into on-line video sales; he declined to comment on analysts' predictions that such a move could be about six months away. Amazon recently hired a new logistics manager, Jimmy Wright, from Wal-Mart Stores Inc. That should help Amazon significantly in "managing the entire supply chain as we grow," Mr. Bezos said. While Amazon's on-line ordering system is state of the art, its warehouses and shipping departments aren't as advanced. Amazon calculated that its second-quarter loss, on a pro-forma operating basis, was $11.6 million. That calculation omits $5.4 million of amortization charges related to three small aquisitions in April; it also leaves out noncash interest charges associated with Amazon's bond debt.