Amazon defies retail downturn
Looks like the recession didn’t steal everyone’s Christmas: Online retailer Amazon.com just reported strong earnings for the fourth quarter of 2008. The growth wasn’t extraordinary, but with online holiday shopping falling 3 percent overall, any growth looks good.
To get more specific, Amazon’s net income increased 9 percent to $225 million, or 52 cents per share, beating analysts’ predictions of 39 cents by more than 25 percent. There were already some early indications that Amazon had a strong holiday season, most notably the company’s announcement that it set a single-day record for orders on December 15. However, I wondered if Amazon was seeing more sales of cheaper items; judging from the earnings data, the company’s bottom line wasn’t hurt too badly.
