Amazon.com Loss Smaller Than Expected

SAN FRANCISCO -- Excluding acquisition charges, online retail giant Amazon.com (AMZN Quote) reported a loss of 14 cents a share for the fourth quarter, slightly better than the 18-cent estimate from First Call. Amazon's loss was 30 cents in the previous quarter and 8 cents in the year-ago quarter.

Revenue totaled $253 million, slightly ahead of the $250 million that the company pre-announced Jan. 5 and nearly four times the $66 million revenues of the fourth quarter of 1997.

Some analysts had suggested that higher seasonal sales wouldn't translate into lower net losses because margins on music and videos -- two areas that Amazon expanded into last year -- are lower than on its core business of books. But the company managed to produce a smaller loss than expected. Including charges, Amazon's net loss was 30 cents per share, compared with a loss of 8 cents per share in the fourth quarter of 1997. ...