Amazon Gets Revenue Relief

Amazon.com's(AMZN Quote) stock has continued to defy its large roster of critics.

Despite a minor retreat on Monday, shares of Amazon are trading near 52-week highs as the company prepares to announce its first-quarter results after Tuesday's closing bell. Shares closed at $44.77, down 18 cents, or 0.4%.

For the year, Amazon's stock is up nearly 15%, making it the best-performing big-cap Internet stock this year following the selloff that hit eBay(EBAY Quote) last week.

And Amazon has soared about 70% since lows hit last August.

For now, investors' constant concerns about the company's razor-thin operating margins seem to be taking a backseat to its booming top-line growth. Revenue is forecast to expand 25% to $13.4 billion in 2008.

For the first quarter, analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial forecast Amazon to earn 15 cents on $2.92 billion in revenue.

The online retailer is often criticized for growing sales through aggressive discounts and promotions on free shipping that eat into earnings. But Amazon bulls see this as a wise decision that gives the company an edge over the long haul -- and one that will soon begin to pay off.

"We believe the company is an under-earner, that it appropriately focuses first on the customer sometimes at the expense of short-term profit, and that the company is one of the better competitively-positioned large Internet companies because it offers reasonable prices while holding trust, convenience, and selection as paramount in its relationship with its customer," Stifel Nicolaus analyst Scott Devitt wrote in a research note.

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