January 26, 2001, 4:09 PM — ONLINE RETAIL GIANT Amazon.com on Monday forecast a pro-forma operating loss of less than $67 million on pro-forma nets sales of over $960 million for the quarter ending Dec. 31.
Emphasizing the preliminary, unaudited nature of the results, the Seattle-based company said in a statement that its net sales expectations represented a 40 percent increase over net sales of $676 million during the same quarter last year.
Gross profit is expected to exceed $210 million for the fourth quarter, up from $88 million in the fourth quarter of 1999, an increase of 140 percent year on year, Amazon.com said.
The company is forecasting a pro-forma operating loss for the fourth quarter of less than 7 percent of net sales, or around $67 million, Amazon.com said. This is compared to a loss in the fourth quarter of 1999 of 26 percent of net sales, or around $175 million, the company said.
Financial analysts are expecting a loss of 26 cents per share, according to a consensus estimate from 29 brokers polled by First Call/Thomson Financial.
Amazon.com closed 6 cents higher on the news on Monday, at $14.94 per share. This is just above its 52-week low of $13.56 per share but well below its 52-week high of $91.56 per share.
Amazon.com will release its finalized fourth-quarter report on Tuesday, Jan. 30, after the stock market closes in New York, the company said.
