Amazon reports second quarterly loss in a row, sales over US$17bn

25 Oct 2013

For the quarter ended 30 September 2013, Amazon recorded a net loss of US$41m, or 9 cents per share. While this is slightly better than Wall Street analysts’ predicted loss of 10 cents per share, it does mark the company’s second loss in a row.

Net sales for Q3 2013 reached US$17.09bn, representing a 24pc increase from US$13.81bn in Q3 2012. The company’s operating loss was US$25m, compared with a loss of US$28m in the same period last year.

“It’s been a busy few months – we launched a new Paperwhite and new Kindle Fires to positive reviews and surprised people with the revolutionary Mayday button – average Mayday response times are just 11 seconds!” Amazon CEO and founder Jeff Bezos enthused.

In the same period, Amazon’s Web Services team secured a significant contract with the US government, and the company brought 8m sq feet of fulfilment centre capacity online, signed up millions of new users to Amazon Prime, and produced nine original TV pilots.

Operating cash flow grew 48pc to US$4.98bn for the trailing 12 months compared with US$3.37bn for the same period in 2012. Free cash flow dropped 63pc to US$388m for the trailing 12 months, compared to US$1.06bn for the same period in 2012.

Common shares outstanding plus shares underlying stock-based awards totalled 475m, compared with 469m one year ago.

Amazon’s guidance for Q4 predicts that losses will continue, forecasting a net loss of US$500m.

Elaine Burke is the host of For Tech’s Sake, a co-production from Silicon Republic and The HeadStuff Podcast Network. She was previously the editor of Silicon Republic.

editorial@siliconrepublic.com