Amazon Opens the Hood

It's not as if investors needed more incentive to play closer attention to Amazon.com's(AMZN) third-quarter earnings announcement Tuesday afternoon.

The Internet retailing giant has seen its share price rally to $32.88 in nearly three months -- a jump of 28% -- even as the company continues to be plagued by some high-profile missteps.

These stumbles include the rolling back of its celebrated A9 search engine and sharply negative reviews of its eagerly anticipated Unbox video downloading service. The difficulties followed on the heels of disappointing financial results for the second quarter, which caused shares to sell off.

Even so, Amazon seems to be quieting critics on the merits of its recent stock performance. The shares regained much of their ground on the back of strength in retail sales overall, and investors hope that an unexpected fall in oil prices and continued strength in consumer spending may give the company a big boost heading into the holiday season.

Then on Monday, news broke that IBM(IBM) would sue Amazon for patent right violations, only hours after the retailing giant announced it would plunge into the automotive sector with a marketplace focused on auto parts and accessories.

Both announcements will have investors scrutinizing Amazon's report much more closely on Tuesday. And they will vet more than just earnings results and guidance: They will focus not only on the aftermath of the lawsuit but on Amazon's strategy going forward, especially how the company plans to balance profiting from its current lines of business with starting up new projects.

Finally, investors will want to know why they should trust Amazon.com to actually deliver on initiatives, given the recent disappointments.