Amazon.com Inc. Chief Executive
Jeffrey Bezos produced the best quarter since he founded the
company in 1994 by letting merchants such as Starbucks Corp. and
Fred Meyer Jewelers hawk goods through its Web site.
Amazon.com, the world’s biggest Internet retailer, will
likely report later today that fourth-quarter net income climbed
to $101.5 million, or 24 cents a share, according to three
analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News. The Seattle-based company
earned $2.65 million, or 1 cent, in the year-earlier period.
Products sold by other vendors were the fastest-growing part
of Amazon.com’s business before the holiday season, and probably
rose 69 percent in the quarter, according to Deutsche Bank
Securities. Bezos, who began Amazon.com as an online bookstore,
may have produced the company’s first full-year profit by giving
at least 850 retailers access to its more than 35 million
customers.
Bloomberg News
