Earnings Preview: Analysts Expect Amazon.com Revenue, Earnings to Dip from Previous Quarter
Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) releases its next round of earnings this Tuesday, July 26, 2011. Here is Benzinga's everything-that-matters guide to Amazon's second quarter earnings report.
Earnings and Revenue:
Analysts are looking ahead to a positive EPS reading of 37 cents per share and revenues of $9.37 billion. We'll have to wait for Tuesday to see if Amazon.com reports a decline in EPS and a boost in revenue from the year-ago quarter, as analysts are predicting.
Here's how the company's reported EPS has stacked up against analyst estimates in the past:
| Quarter | Q1 | Q4 | Q3 | Q2 |
| EPS Estimate | $0.60 | $0.88 | $0.48 | $0.56 |
| EPS Actual | $0.44 | $0.91 | $0.51 | $0.45 |
Stock Performance:
Shares of Amazon.com were trading at $215.55 as of July 20, 2011. Since January 1st, shares of Amazon.com have given investors a return of 19.8%. For a full 12 months, the return has risen by 38.7%. Given that these returns are generally positive, long-term shareholders are probably satisfied going into this earnings release.
- Long-term shareholders are already enjoying 12-month gains prior to the announcement
Average Stock Rating:
The average rating by analysts for Amazon.com is a Moderate Buy. The strength of this rating has crept upwards over the past three months.
Competitors:
Wondering how some of the other consumer discretionary companies are doing? Here are a few of Amazon.com's peers in that sector.
- Best Buy (NYSE: BBY): Hold with a $0.35 recent quarter EPS
- Barnes & Noble (NYSE: BKS): Hold with a -$1.04 recent quarter EPS
- Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ: COST): Hold with a $0.80 recent quarter EPS
- eBay (NASDAQ: EBAY): Hold with a $0.40 recent quarter EPS
Amazon.com is in the internet commerce industry, which has experienced price/earnings growth of 1.4%.
Finally, a description of the company's main areas of operation: Amazon.com sells millions of products across dozens of product categories on its web site. It also manufactures and sells the Kindle, an e-reader.
Take Action:
That's your advanced look at Amazon.com's upcoming earnings numbers -- be ready to take quick action if the company's report contains any surprises. Also, check back in with us after the announcement for a full recap and what-to-do-next guide.
The preceding article is from one of our external contributors. It does not represent the opinion of Benzinga and has not been edited.
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