Amazon.com Earnings: Q3 2011 Sales up 44% to $10.88 Billion, Net Income Down 73%, Record Kindle Sales

UPDATE: “Amazon Profit Plunges; Shares Tumble” (via Bloomberg)
From Amazon.com’s Q3 2011 Earnings News Release:

Amazon.com, Inc. today announced financial results for its third quarter ended September 30, 2011.
Operating cash flow increased 19% to $3.11 billion for the trailing twelve months, compared with $2.62billion for the trailing twelve months ended September 30, 2010. Free cash flow decreased 17% to $1.53 billion for the trailing twelve months, compared with $1.83 billion for the trailing twelve months ended September 30, 2010.
Common shares outstanding plus shares underlying stock-based awards totaled 469 million on September 30, 2011, compared with 465 million a year ago.
Net sales increased 44% to $10.88 billion in the third quarter, compared with $7.56 billion in third quarter 2010. Excluding the $371 million favorable impact from year-over-year changes in foreign exchange rates throughout the quarter, net sales would have grown 39% compared with third quarter 2010.
Operating income was $79 million in the third quarter, compared with $268 million in third quarter 2010. The favorable impact from year-over-year changes in foreign exchange rates throughout the quarter on operating income was $14 million.
Net income decreased 73% to $63 million in the third quarter, or $0.14 per diluted share, compared with net income of $231 million, or $0.51 per diluted share, in third quarter 2010.
“September 28th was the biggest order day ever for Kindle, even bigger than previous holiday peak days. Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon.com said,  “In the three weeks since launch, orders for electronic ink Kindles are double the previous launch. And based on what we’re seeing with Kindle Fire pre-orders, we’re increasing capacity and building millions more than we’d already planned.”

Some of the Other Q3 Highlights Listed in the News Release:

• Amazon.fr launched the French Kindle Store offering customers a vast selection of over 35,000 French-language Kindle books.

• Licensing agreements with Twentieth Century Fox and PBS

• Amazon Publishing released 61 titles in the quarter

• Amazon Publishing also announced a new imprint, 47North, which is dedicated to science-fiction, fantasy, and horror. 47North joins sister imprints AmazonEncore, AmazonCrossing, Powered by Amazon, Montlake Romance, and Thomas & Mercer.

• North America segment sales, representing the Company’s U.S. and Canadian sites, were $5.93 billion, up 44% from third quarter 2010.

• International segment sales, representing the Company’s U.K., German, Japanese, French, Chinese, Italian and Spanish sites, were $4.94 billion, up 44% from third quarter 2010. Excluding the favorable impact from year-over-year changes in foreign exchange rates throughout the quarter, sales grew 33%.

• Worldwide Media sales grew 24% to $4.15 billion. Excluding the favorable impact from year-over-year changes in foreign exchange rates throughout the quarter, sales grew 19%.

Direct to the Complete News Release

Filed under: Awards, News, Publishing