Reuters: Global Markets: Amazon shares set record after strong quarterly profit

Reuters: Global Markets Reuters.com is your source for breaking news, business, financial and investing news, including personal finance and stocks. Reuters is the leading global provider of news, financial information and technology solutions to the world's media, financial institutions, businesses and individuals. // via fulltextrssfeed.com

Amazon shares set record after strong quarterly profit Jan 29th 2013, 22:26 Tweet Share this Email Print Related News Instant View: Amazon's income leaps 56 percent in holiday quarter 4:26pm EST Analysis & Opinion OpenTable will pay $10 million for Foodspotting app Apple: The slaying of a tech hero Related Topics Investing and Taxes Simplified » Tech » Hot Stocks » Asian Markets » A zoomed image of a computer screen showing the Amazon logo is seen in Vienna November 26, 2012. Credit: Reuters/Heinz-Peter Bader By Alistair Barr SAN FRANCISCO | Tue Jan 29, 2013 4:39pm EST SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Amazon.com Inc shares hit a new record on Tuesday after the world's largest Internet retailer reported better-than-expected quarterly profit, fueled by growth of higher-margin businesses. The stock jumped 11 percent to $288 in after-hours trading following its results. The stock hit a record of $284.72 in regular trading on January 25. The Seattle-based company said operating income jumped 56 percent to $405 million in the fourth quarter, compared with $260 million in the fourth quarter of 2011. "The fourth-quarter operating income was up more than expected," said R.J. Hottovy, an equity analyst at Morningstar. "This supports the bull case that Amazon can monetize its growth over the longer term." Amazon mainly operates as a retailer, buying products at wholesale prices, storing them and then selling at a slight mark-up to consumers online. This is a low-margin business. However, the company has expanded into other businesses that are potentially more profitable, including cloud computing, digital content and acting as an online marketplace for other merchants. These newer businesses are growing faster than the company's original retail operations, boosting profitability. Morningstar's Hottovy said the increase in fourth-quarter profit was driven by a combination of growth in higher margin businesses, such as e-books, and a reduction in heavy fulfillment center investments Amazon has been making in recent years. Amazon Chief Executive Jeff Bezos highlighted the company's Kindle e-book business, which he called a multi-billion dollar category that grew about 70 percent in 2012. Meanwhile, Amazon's physical book business grew about five percent in the same period, he noted. "We're now seeing the transition we`ve been expecting," Bezos said in a statement. The company also said fourth-quarter revenue jumped 22 percent to $21.27 billion as it grabbed a big share of online spending during the crucial holiday period. (Reporting By Alistair Barr; Editing by Bernard Orr) Investing and Taxes Simplified Related Quotes and News Company Price Related News Tweet this Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints We welcome comments that advance the story through relevant opinion, anecdotes, links and data. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters. For more information on our comment policy, see http://blogs.reuters.com/fulldisclosure/2010/09/27/toward-a-more-thoughtful-conversation-on-stories/ Comments (0) Be the first to comment on reuters.com. Add yours using the box above.

You are receiving this email because you subscribed to this feed at blogtrottr.com. If you no longer wish to receive these emails, you can unsubscribe from this feed, or manage all your subscriptions