Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) earnings hit the market like a ton of bricks yesterday afternoon. The company showed strong growth, and growth acceleration in the third quarter of 2013. Analysts are falling over themselves trying to reassess the company in the wake of the report and the 8% bump in the value of the stock since it was released.
One such report, from Raymond James analyst Aaron Kessler, is newly optimistic on the value of Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) shares. The report upgrades the company’s stock from Market Perform to Strong Buy. Kessler’s price target on shares in Amazon is up to $446. Shares in the company were trading at just under $360 at time is writing after hitting a high of $368.40 in pre-market trading.
Amazon surge
Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) actually lost money in the third quarter of 2013, though it’s difficult to find reference to the loss in most headlines today. The company showed a loss of 9 cents per share. The real story at Amazon is not in the earnings numbers, however, and it never has been. Amazon and its investors care about revenue, and that’s what they got in yesterday’s report.
Revenue for the third quarter of the year came in at $17.09 billion for the third quarter, a 25% increase from the second quarter. Analysts were expecting Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) to bring in just $16.8 billion in revenue.It was not just the sheer numbers, or the acceleration, that mattered in this report. Geography had quite an important part to play.
North America, the biggest market for Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) saw the most appreciable gains in revenue. Total sales on the continent came to $10.1 billion, up 31% from the second quarter of the year. Despite the difficult macro environment likely to prevail in the fourth quarter, Amazon and the anlaysts following it are expecting it to do better than ever in the holiday season.
Amazon fourth quarter boom
As with so many businesses, and almost everybody in retail, the fourth quarter is where the money is made. Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) guided for revenue of $23.5-26.5 billion in the fourth quarter of 2013. Before this report was published, analysts were looking for revenue of $25.9 billion in the three months at the end of the year.
Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) is still not making a strong profit, though it will pull in a small margin by the end of the year. The company’s shareholders are giving it the benefit of the doubt. The firm’s growth numbers are too seductive to ignore.
