Analysts Look to Amazon's Holiday Sales Numbers With a Wary Eye

What's good for online retail is good for Amazon.com. This simple and seemingly widespread belief helps explain why shares in the Seattle-based bellwether are up over 70% since November.

But Wall Street analysts aren't buying it. None raised earnings or sales estimates for the company in December, according to the ILX database, and at least two brokerages -- McAdams Wright Ragen and Wells Fargo Securities -- have downgraded the stock because of the jump in share price.

After years of giving the money-losing company the benefit of the doubt, some analysts have grown super-skeptical about Amazon. And there's plenty to fuel their doubts. ...