Amazon.com says that its fiscal third-quarter loss narrowed as revenue grew 24 percent to more than $17 billion.
The Seattle-based online retailer also said Thursday that it expects growth in its fourth-quarter revenue, indicating confidence as it enters the key holiday shopping season.
Morningstar analyst R.J. Hottovy says he thinks the online retail giant’s strategy is correct.
"They’ve been building out their digital video- and audiobook libraries quite extensively the last couple of quarters, and I think you’re starting to see those numbers as well. But I think the investments all make sense, and it’s all about keeping the user base engaged and happy, and I think that Amazon’s doing just that," he said.
Amazon posted a loss of $41 million, or 9 cents per share, for the quarter that ended in September. The company was busy in the quarter launching new Kindle Fire tablets, adding millions of square feet of warehouse space, and starting production on nine new original TV shows. The company says it may lose money again in the current quarter, but projects that sales will rise as much as 25 percent.
In the same quarter last year, Amazon posted a loss of $274 million, or 60 cents per share. The prior year includes a one-time $169 million loss related to its stake in online deals site LivingSocial.
Revenue came to $17.09 billion from $13.81 billion.
Analysts were anticipating a loss of 9 cents per share on $16.76 billion in revenue.
Shares rose nearly 7 percent in after-hours trading.
