Seeking Alpha

Seeking Alpha Portfolio App for iPad

26,584 people get AMZN articles and Market Currents by email alert.

Get email alerts on AMZN »

AMZN

Amazon.com, Inc.

5/20/2013, 4:36 AM ET

Quote & Headlines Market Currents StockTalk

All
| Earnings
| Dividends
| M&A
| On the move

Friday, May 17, 2:38 PM Amazon (AMZN +1.5%) and eBay (EBAY +1.9%) are outperforming after mid-May U.S. consumer confidence numbers blow past expectations. Of course, it was European sales (I, II), rather than U.S. sales, that put investors in both companies on edge following their Q1 reports. 1 Comment [Tech, Consumer]
Friday, May 17, 5:44 AM The British parliament will call Amazon (AMZN) back to testify before the Public Affairs Committee to explain how it justifies paying just $9M in income tax on some $23B in sales to British customers over the past six years, Reuters said Friday, citing lawmakers. The company claims it should only pay tax in Luxembourg as it operates a single business in Europe from there, rather than multiple independent subsidiaries across the region. Reuters suggests this is a mischaracterization. 2 Comments [Tech]
Thursday, May 16, 2:32 PM Google's (GOOG -0.6%) I/O news deluge isn't over. 1) Google Search's Knowledge Graph feature is being updated to include more stats and anticipate/answer follow-up questions. Echoing Ray Kurzweil's remarks, Google also plans to use natural language analysis to make results more conversational. 2) The Compute Engine and App Engine cloud infrastructure/app development services (compete against AMZN) have received updates. Compute Engine is also now open to all developers. 3) YouTube's live streaming service is now available to any channel with 1K+ subs. 4) Facebook and Twitter Glass apps are about to launch. 5) Google has bought a quantum computer, and will use it in an artificial intelligence lab it's creating with NASA. (previous) Comment! [Tech]
Thursday, May 16, 9:57 AM Amazon (AMZN +0.4%) keeps adding to its portfolio of video content by signing a new deal with Comcast (CMCSA -0.4%) for shows from NBC and other NBCUniversal networks. As is standard, the shows will be available on Prime Instant Video several months after they originally air. 4 Comments [Consumer]
Wednesday, May 15, 1:51 PM Perhaps take it with a grain of salt, but a surprising 44% of consumers responding to a survey on the impact of an online sales tax say they will buy less items online if the legislation is passed into law. The number rises to 75% for the 18-year to 25-year old demographic (ZUMZ, ANF, URBN, ARO, BKE, VRA). Though seemingly a bad development for Amazon (AMZN -0.6%) and eBay (EBAY), many retail analysts thinks those shopping habits are pretty hard to break. 5 Comments [Consumer]
Wednesday, May 15, 6:52 AM Amazon (AMZN) now has more than 4K members in its partner network designed to help lure big businesses to use its cloud computing services, up from just over a thousand a year ago. The company thinks using a partner ecosystem of middlemen with developed solutions that function on AWS servers can help convince large corporations and government agencies to make the final leap to AWS. 5 Comments [Consumer, Tech]
Monday, May 13, 1:43 PM Amazon (AMZN) has bought Samsung's (SSNLF.PK) Liquavista e-reader display unit, The Digital Reader uncovers via Dutch regulatory filings; Amazon has subsequently confirmed the purchase. Past rumors indicated Samsung was trying to sell Liquavista, which was developing low-power color displays relying on a process called electrowetting, to Amazon for less than $100M. Look for Liquavista's tech to appear in future Kindle e-readers. 3 Comments [Tech, Consumer, M&A]
Monday, May 13, 9:44 AM Amazon (AMZN -0.4%) brings Amazon Coins to the Kindle Fire and says it will add $5 worth of free coins that can be spent on apps and games to the accounts of all Kindle Fire owners. The company appears to be pushing its virtual currency hard than ever, offering discounts to users who buy the e-coins in bulk. 2 Comments [Consumer]
Thursday, May 9, 5:57 PM Amazon's (AMZN) Quidsi unit is launching Familyhood Plus, a membership program that's almost a carbon copy of Amazon Prime (free 2-day shipping for orders, regardless of size), but which applies to Quidsi's 10 consumer goods sites rather than Amazon.com. No pricing details have been disclosed. Quidsi, still independently run, has been rapidly expanding its reach since Amazon bought it for $545M in 2010. Comment! [Tech, Consumer]
Thursday, May 9, 1:52 PM Amazon (AMZN +1.8%) is working on two smartphones - one of which has a 3D screen - and a music-streaming device, the WSJ reports. The 3D phone is said to feature eye-tracking tech that makes images "seem to float above the screen like a hologram," and might also allow users to "navigate through content using just their eyes." Sources cautioned there's no guarantee the devices, as well as an Amazon set-top (previous), will ever be sold. LG and others have experimented with 3D phones, but the devices failed to catch on. The Smart Scroll and Smart Pause features in Samsung's Galaxy S4 enable navigation via face movements. 2 Comments [Tech, Consumer, Breaking News]
Tuesday, May 7, 9:19 PM Marissa Mayer (YHOO) held a preliminary talk with Hulu (DIS, CMCSA, NWS) execs about a bid for the video site, "numerous sources" tell Kara Swisher. Amazon (AMZN), Guggenheim Partners, and ex-News Corp. COO Peter Chermin (previous) are also said to be weighing bids. Yahoo was one of the companies offering to buy Hulu back in 2011, and with the French government having thwarted its Dailymotion bid, Hulu and its 4M+ premium subs might not be a bad backup plan. But much likely depends on the content rights Hulu's risk-averse old media owners are willing to give. 1 Comment [Tech, M&A, Consumer]
Tuesday, May 7, 10:25 AM Amazon (AMZN -0.8%) sees a little bit of deceleration in its same-store sales as tracked by ChannelAdvisor. Though the company's 30.6% Y/Y gain outpaces the e-commerce category in general, the rate of sales growth stands below what the company recorded in January, February, and March. Comment! [Consumer, Tech]
Monday, May 6, 8:29 AM Amazon (AMZN) launches an Android app store in China that will offer both free and paid apps to consumers in the nation. The timing by the company could be good with malicious apps in China from local sources a serious threat and Google not on the app scene yet. The big picture: Amazon has a long term strategy to entrench itself in the Chinese mobile phone market. Comment! [Consumer, Tech]
Monday, May 6, 5:20 AM The Senate looks poised to approve a bill today that would force online merchants to collect sales tax on Internet transactions. However, the measure will probably hit greater opposition in the House, where the leadership appears to be ambivalent, with Speaker John Boehner taking no public position. Companies in favor include Wal-Mart (WMT) and Amazon (AMZN), while those against include News Corp (NWS) and eBay (EBAY). 2 Comments [Consumer, Top Stories]
Wednesday, May 1, 7:09 PM IDC's Q1 tablet figures are even gaudier than Strategy Analytics'. the firm thinks shipments soared 142% Y/Y to 49.2M. Strategy estimates "only" 117% growth to 40.6M units. The main reason: IDC thinks Android (GOOG) shipments surged to 27.8M, giving them a 56.5% share; Strategy only estimates 17.6M. The iPad (AAPL) is estimated to have a 39.6% share, down from Q4's 43.6%. Samsung's (SSNLF.PK) share is believed to have risen to 17.9% from 15.1%, and Amazon's (AMZN) to have dropped to 3.7% from 11.5% (shipment timings are a likely factor). Whereas Strategy thinks 3M Windows 8/RT (MSFT) tablets were shipped, IDC estimates only 1.8M (1.6M Win. 8, 200K RT), with 900K involving Surface. 3 Comments [Tech]
Wednesday, May 1, 8:03 AM Amazon (AMZN) has opened its first office in Russia and is actively looking to hire employees for its Kindle business in the nation, according to TechCrunch. Russia is the largest Internet market in Europe and e-commerce there is forecast to rise to as much as $36B by 2015. AMZN +0.2% premarket. 1 Comment [Consumer, Tech]

1
2
3
4
5
6
...
93
Next Page