Amazon Skewered After Hours — Tuesday’s IP Market Recap

by Kyle Woodley | January 31, 2012 4:49 pm

[1]Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN[2]) was punished in after-hours trading Tuesday after reporting significantly lower earnings and saying it could report a loss in the first quarter.

Amazon reported fourth-quarter earnings of $117 million (38 cents per share), down 57% from the year-ago period. While down, earnings were more than double analyst expectations of 17 cents per share. Revenue of $17.4 billion was up 34% from last year, but short of expectations for $18.3 billion.

Amazon also forecast Q1 earnings between $100 million and -$200 million. Analysts previously were expecting a $426 million profit.

AMZN shares, which had gained more than 1% in the lead-up, were down about 8% shortly after Tuesday’s closing bell.

Falling earlier Tuesday was Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX[3]), which dropped more than 4% on news that British Sky Broadcasting Group — commonly known as BSkyB — was launching its own streaming video service. BSkyB’s service is a response to the American streaming giant, which recently began offering its own programming in the U.K.

However, Amazon and Netflix paled in comparison to RadioShack (NYSE:RSH[4]), which suffered its worst drop in more than 12 years on poor Q4 earnings and a suspension of its share buyback program.

RSH shares fell about 30% after the company reported earnings of 11 cents per share, down from 13 cents in the year-ago period and far shy of analyst expectations for 37 cents. RadioShack also said it would suspend stock repurchases for “the near-term.” Big-box electronics competitor Best Buy (NYSE:BBY[5]) also reacted to the news with a 5.6% decline of its own.

Three Up

• Rare Element Resources (AMEX:REE[6]): Up 20% ($1.23) to $7.38.
• Verifone Systems (NYSE:PAY[7]): Up 8.4% ($3.29) to $42.70.
• Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX[8]): Up 6.4% ($2.21) to $36.95.

Three Down

• Polypore International (NYSE:PPO[9]): Down 29.9% ($16.26) to $38.08.
• Renren (NASDAQ:RENN[10]): Down 12% (76 cents) to $5.55.
• Trina Solar (NYSE:TSL[11]): Down 7.9% (69 cents) to $8.04.

Kyle Woodley is the assistant editor of InvestorPlace.com. As of this writing, he did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities. Check out recaps from previous trading days here[12].

Source URL: https://investorplace.com/2012/01/amazon-amzn-stock-earnings-nflx-rsh-bby/

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