Surprise! Jeff Bezos explains to Amazon investors why no profits are a good thing (The Verge)Morning Links
“Jeff Bezos’ annual letter to investors is always worth reading.”

What I’m really thinking: The literary agent (The Guardian)
“I often drive 200 miles a week to visit that novelist who has a towering ego and has to be cajoled out of his tantrums.”

Booksellers urge court not to toss Amazon e-book lawsuit (Publishers Weekly)
“Plaintiff booksellers this week filed an opposition motion urging the court not to dismiss their lawsuit against Amazon and the big six publishers… “

Kindle Daily Deals: Welcome to the Monkey House by Kurt Vonnegut (and 3 others)

NO COMMENTS

  1. Amazon’s investors have little ground for complaint. From the beginning it’s been obvious that the company intends to forgo profits to grow their marketshare. And in the long run that marketshare and the company’s investments will make its stock more valuable.

    Keep in mind that, while those minuscule profits or slight losses are, in part, due to accounting tricks, Amazon could be playing those same bookkeeping games to create the appearance of a significant profit. If I owned Amazon stock, I’d only be worried if Amazon showed no ability to turn a profit year after year, along with no growing marketshare and no innovative skill. I wouldn’t fret the small profits or small losses.

  2. Technically, it is incorrect to say that Amazon doesn’t make a profit.
    Amazon makes a *very* good profit and has for years. Which they are immediately re-investing in the company,
    Highly profitable companies can do a variety of things with their profits; they can let them pile up in the bank, like Apple, return some of it to investors as dividends, like Microsoft, or they can spend it growing the company ever bigger.
    Amazon has for the last couple of yearsbeen funding a massive expansion of its facilities and capabilities, almost exclusively out of their regular cash flow.
    Instead of letting their profits accumulate, Bezos is putting them to work generating ever bigger future profits. Like a gambler letting his winnings ride he thinks the roll they’re on will continue.
    He might be right.

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