亞馬遜利潤縮水
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最近一個財季，亞馬遜（Amazon）銷售額雖然一直在上漲，但利潤卻再次縮水。究其原因，很大程度上是源于公司的持續(xù)擴張。 第四季度，亞馬遜的銷售額比去年同期增加了22%，達到213億美元；但利潤卻跌至9,700萬美元，每股收益21美分。而去年同期，公司利潤為1.77億美元。這樣的表現(xiàn)遠遠低于華爾街的預期。華爾街預測亞馬遜每股收益為28美分，總收入為222.6億美元。 分析師之所以密切關注亞馬遜的收入，不僅因為節(jié)日季通常是公司增長最強勁的階段，同時也是為了估算，公司擴張會給公司利潤造成什么樣的影響。去年，亞馬遜加大投入，用于建設更多運營中心，同時推廣Kindle電子書閱讀器和平板電腦。公司首席財務官湯姆?斯庫塔克在公司的業(yè)績發(fā)布會上稱，截至節(jié)日季，公司共新建20個運營中心，并且已經(jīng)投入使用，與亞馬遜上個季度的預測基本一致。（目前，亞馬遜在全球共有89座倉庫。） 雖然亞馬遜對分解媒體業(yè)務不同部門銷售額一直持謹慎態(tài)度，不過其CEO杰夫?貝佐斯表示，Kindle是一個健康的、持續(xù)增長的部門。貝佐斯在一份聲明中稱：“我們已經(jīng)看到了之前預想的轉(zhuǎn)變。經(jīng)過5年發(fā)展，電子書業(yè)務為我們帶來了數(shù)十億美元收入，而且仍在迅速增長——去年增長了約70%。而與之相對比的是，我們在12月份的實體書銷售額卻經(jīng)歷了史上最低的同比漲幅，僅增長了5%。自從我們開始圖書業(yè)務17年以來，還是第一次出現(xiàn)這種情況。我們很興奮，也非常感謝消費者對Kindle的熱愛，感謝他們支持我們正在不斷擴展的生態(tài)系統(tǒng)和我們的選擇?！?/p> 斯庫塔克在業(yè)績發(fā)布會上還著重介紹了Prime（年費79美元的忠誠用戶回饋服務）和Prime即時視頻服務（轉(zhuǎn)為Prime用戶提供的視頻數(shù)據(jù)流服務）用戶的增長情況。尤其是Prime即時視頻服務用戶與去年相比出現(xiàn)了大幅增長。不過，斯庫塔克并沒有公布具體數(shù)據(jù)。 盤后交易中，亞馬遜公司股票上漲了11%，漲至每股288美元。（財富中文網(wǎng)） 譯者：劉進龍/汪皓 |
Amazon sales may be up, but profits took another plunge during the company's most recent quarter, in large part due to the company's ongoing expansion. In the fourth quarter, Amazon (AMZN) sales rose 22%, compared with the same time in 2011, to $21.3 billion; profits dropped to $97 million, or 21 cents a share, down from $177 million the year prior. Those numbers fall short of Wall Street estimates of profits of 28 cents a share on revenues of $22.26 billion. Analysts were paying close attention to Amazon's earnings, not just because the holiday season is typically the company's strongest period, but to gauge how the company's expansion efforts are likely to continue to impact profits. Over the last year, the company has invested heavily in building more fulfillment centers and spending to get its Kindle readers and tablets in more consumers' hands. During the company's earnings call, CFO Tom Szkutak said that 20 new fulfillment centers were up and running by the holiday season—in line what the company had projected last quarter. (In total, Amazon now has 89 warehouses worldwide.) Although Amazon is typically reticent about breaking down sales for different segments of its media business, CEO Jeff Bezos suggested that the Kindle is a healthy, growing segment. "We're now seeing the transition we've been expecting," said Bezos said in a statement. "After 5 years, eBooks is a multi-billion dollar category for us and growing fast – up approximately 70% last year. In contrast, our physical book sales experienced the lowest December growth rate in our 17 years as a book seller, up just 5%. We're excited and very grateful to our customers for their response to Kindle and our ever-expanding ecosystem and selection." On an earnings call, Szkutak also played up the user growth of Prime, its $79 a year loyalty reward program, and Prime Instant Video, its video streaming initiative for Prime subscribers. In particular, Prime Instant Video usage has ramped up year-over-year. However, Szkutak did not disclose numbers. Amazon's stock climbed 11% in after-hours trading to $288 a share. |
