
Amazon Blasts Past Street's Forecast
Updated from Thursday, Jan. 28
SEATTLE (
) --
Amazon
(AMZN) - Get Report
is being praised by analysts, who are upping their target price on the stock after the e-retailer easily topped Wall Street's fourth-quarter estimates and released a positive outlook.
The news sent shares up 3.4% to $130.24 before the bell on Friday.
Needham upped its target to $140 from $120. "The Amazon story would appear to have no bounds," analyst Charles Wolf wrote in a note. "Through a combination of price leadership, superb service and continuing expansion of product offerings, Amazon is gaining share in the online e-commerce market even as the e-commerce market gains share from the physical commerce market."
Jeffries also raised its price target to $160 from $150 and Kaufman Bros. lifted its target to $160 from $155.
Looking ahead, Amazon predicts revenue in the range of $6.45 billion to $7 billion, better than the $6.36 billion analysts are looking for. Operating income is expected to fall between $275 million and $365 million.
During the quarter, the company earned $384 million, or 85 cents a share, a 71% surge compared with $225 million, or 52 cents, in the year-ago period. Analysts expected earnings of 72 cents a share.
Sales soared 42% to $9.51 billion from $6.7 billion last year. This was significantly higher than the $9.04 billion forecast.
Amazon did not reveal how many Kindles it has sold.
Investors fear
Apple's
(AAPL) - Get Report
new
will steal market share away from Amazon's Kindle.
The
wouldn't be the first time Amazon has faced increasing competition for its Kindle. Companies like
Barnes & Noble
(BKS) - Get Report
and
Sony
(SNE) - Get Report
launched similar, or beefed up devices, over the holidays.
Amazon fought back by launching an international version of its Kindle. It also cut $40 off the price of the device.
Amazon also said it will buy back up to $2 billion in common stock.
-- Reported by Jeanine Poggi in New York.
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