Amazon Q4 Earnings Report Released, Net Income Plummets, Kindle Unit Sales Up 177%

Amazon just released its earnings report for the fourth quarter. This includes an increase in net sales of 35% to $17.43 billion. Still, net income decreased 58% to $177 million for the quarter. Kindl...
Amazon Q4 Earnings Report Released, Net Income Plummets, Kindle Unit Sales Up 177%
Written by Chris Crum
  • Amazon just released its earnings report for the fourth quarter. This includes an increase in net sales of 35% to $17.43 billion. Still, net income decreased 58% to $177 million for the quarter.

    Kindle unit sales (including Kindles and Kindle Fires) increased 177% over the same period last year.

    “We are grateful to the millions of customers who purchased the Kindle Fire and Kindle e-reader devices this holiday season, making Kindle our bestselling product across both the U.S. and Europe,” said CEO Jeff Bezos.

    Below is the release in its entirety:

    SEATTLE–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Jan. 31, 2012– Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) today announced financial results for its fourth quarter ended December 31, 2011.

    Operating cash flow increased 12% to $3.90 billion for the trailing twelve months, compared with $3.50 billion for the trailing twelve months ended December 31, 2010. Free cash flow decreased 17% to $2.09 billion for the trailing twelve months, compared with $2.52 billion for the trailing twelve months ended December 31, 2010.

    Common shares outstanding plus shares underlying stock-based awards totaled 468 million on December 31, 2011, compared with 465 million a year ago.

    Net sales increased 35% to $17.43 billion in the fourth quarter, compared with $12.95 billion in fourth quarter 2010. Excluding the $101 million favorable impact from year-over-year changes in foreign exchange rates throughout the quarter, net sales would have grown 34% compared with fourth quarter 2010.

    Operating income was $260 million in the fourth quarter, compared with $474 million in fourth quarter 2010. The favorable impact from year-over-year changes in foreign exchange rates throughout the quarter on operating income was $5 million.

    Net income decreased 58% to $177 million in the fourth quarter, or $0.38 per diluted share, compared with net income of $416 million, or $0.91 per diluted share, in fourth quarter 2010.

    “We are grateful to the millions of customers who purchased the Kindle Fire and Kindle e-reader devices this holiday season, making Kindle our bestselling product across both the U.S. and Europe,” said Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon.com. “Our millions of third-party sellers had a tremendous holiday season with 65% unit growth and now represent 36% of total units sold.”

    Full Year 2011

    Net sales increased 41% to $48.08 billion, compared with $34.20 billion in 2010. Excluding the $1.09 billionfavorable impact from year-over-year changes in foreign exchange rates throughout the year, net sales would have grown 37% compared with 2010.

    Operating income decreased 39% to $862 million, compared with $1.41 billion in 2010. The favorable impact from year-over-year changes in foreign exchange rates throughout the year on operating income was $53 million.

    Net income decreased 45% to $631 million in 2011, or $1.37 per diluted share, compared with net income of$1.15 billion, or $2.53 per diluted share, in 2010.

    Highlights

    • During the nine-week holiday period ending December 31, 2011, Kindle unit sales, including both the Kindle Fire and e-reader devices, increased 177% over the same period last year.
    • Kindle Fire is the #1 bestselling, most gifted, and most wished for product across the millions of items available on Amazon.com since its introduction 17 weeks ago.
    • Amazon launched Kindle Stores at Amazon.it and Amazon.es. Kindle moved to the top of the bestseller list on launch day in both countries and held the top spot this holiday season. The new Kindle was also the bestselling product on Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.de and Amazon.fr.
    • Amazon.com announced the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library, a benefit of Prime membership that offers over 80,000 books to borrow for free – including over 100 current and former New York Times bestsellers – as frequently as a book a month, with no due dates.
    • Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) announced KDP Select, an annual fund of at least $6 million dedicated to independent authors and publishers who participate in the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library. In December alone, customers borrowed 295,000 KDP Select titles, and KDP Select has helped grow the total library selection of books by over 16X.
    • Amazon continued to expand its catalog of title offerings for Prime Instant Video, announcing licensing agreements with Twentieth Century Fox Television Distribution, which added the popular FOX and FX television shows Glee and Sons of Anarchy, and Disney-ABC Television, which added popular television shows including Lost and Grey’s Anatomy. These deals bring the total number of Prime Instant Videos to more than 13,000 movies and TV shows from partners such as CBS, Fox, NBCUniversal, Sony, Warner Bros., PBS, ABC-Disney and many more.
    • The number of videos purchased or rented from Amazon Instant Video and the number of Amazon Instant Video customers both more than doubled year-over-year in the fourth quarter. In addition, the number of Prime Instant Video streams increased nearly 300% in the fourth quarter compared to the third quarter.
    • Amazon Appstore for Android customers nearly tripled in the fourth quarter compared to the third quarter. In addition, customers downloaded more apps from the Amazon Appstore during the fourth quarter than they had during all previous quarters combined.
    • North America segment sales, representing the Company’s U.S. and Canadian sites, were $9.90 billion, up 37% from fourth quarter 2010.
    • International segment sales, representing the Company’s U.K., German, Japanese, French, Chinese, Italian and Spanish sites, were $7.53 billion, up 31% from fourth quarter 2010. Excluding the favorable impact from year-over-year changes in foreign exchange rates throughout the quarter, sales grew 29%.
    • Worldwide Media sales grew 15% to $6.01 billion. Excluding the favorable impact from year-over-year changes in foreign exchange rates throughout the quarter, sales grew 14%.
    • Worldwide Electronics and Other General Merchandise sales grew 48% to $10.91 billion. Excluding the favorable impact from year-over-year changes in foreign exchange rates throughout the quarter, sales grew 47%.
    • Amazon Web Services (AWS) announced the launch of its new South America (Sao Paulo) Region and U.S. West (Oregon) Region, bringing the total to eight geographic regions worldwide to which the company has deployed its global cloud computing services.
    • AWS announced the launch of Amazon DynamoDB, a fully managed NoSQL database service that provides extremely fast and predictable performance with seamless scalability. With a few clicks in the AWS Management Console, customers can launch a new Amazon DynamoDB database table, scale up or down their request capacity for the table without downtime or performance degradation, and gain visibility into resource utilization and performance metrics.
    • AWS announced that customers can now run their Microsoft Windows Server applications within the AWS Free Usage Tier – a program designed to help new AWS customers get started in the cloud. Developers and businesses with Windows Server applications can take advantage of 750 hours of Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2) Micro Instance usage per month, at no charge for a one-year period.

    Financial Guidance

    The following forward-looking statements reflect Amazon.com’s expectations as of January 31, 2012. Our results are inherently unpredictable and may be materially affected by many factors, such as fluctuations in foreign exchange rates, changes in global economic conditions and consumer spending, world events, the rate of growth of the Internet and online commerce and the various factors detailed below.

    First Quarter 2012 Guidance

    • Net sales are expected to be between $12.0 billion and $13.4 billion, or to grow between 22% and 36% compared with first quarter 2011.
    • Operating income (loss) is expected to be between $(200) million and $100 million, or between 162% decline and 69% decline compared with first quarter 2011.
    • This guidance includes approximately $200 million for stock-based compensation and amortization of intangible assets, and it assumes, among other things, that no additional business acquisitions or investments are concluded and that there are no further revisions to stock-based compensation estimates.

    A conference call will be webcast live today at 2 p.m. PT/5 p.m. ET, and will be available for at least three months at www.amazon.com/ir. This call will contain forward-looking statements and other material information regarding the Company’s financial and operating results.

    These forward-looking statements are inherently difficult to predict. Actual results could differ materially for a variety of reasons, including, in addition to the factors discussed above, the amount that Amazon.com invests in new business opportunities and the timing of those investments, the mix of products sold to customers, the mix of net sales derived from products as compared with services, the extent to which we owe income taxes, competition, management of growth, potential fluctuations in operating results, international growth and expansion, the outcomes of legal proceedings and claims, fulfillment center optimization, risks of inventory management, seasonality, the degree to which the Company enters into, maintains and develops commercial agreements, acquisitions and strategic transactions, and risks of fulfillment throughput and productivity. Other risks and uncertainties include, among others, risks related to new products, services and technologies, system interruptions, government regulation and taxation, payments and fraud. In addition, the current global economic climate amplifies many of these risks. More information about factors that potentially could affect Amazon.com’s financial results is included in Amazon.com’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), including its most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and subsequent filings.

    Our investor relations website is www.amazon.com/ir and we encourage investors to use it as a way of easily finding information about us. We promptly make available on this website, free of charge, the reports that we file or furnish with the SEC, corporate governance information (including our Code of Business Conduct and Ethics), and select press releases and social media postings.

    About Amazon.com

    Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN), a Fortune 500 company based in Seattle, opened on the World Wide Web in July 1995 and today offers Earth’s Biggest Selection. Amazon.com, Inc. seeks to be Earth’s most customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover anything they might want to buy online, and endeavors to offer its customers the lowest possible prices. Amazon.com and other sellers offer millions of unique new, refurbished and used items in categories such as Books; Movies, Music & Games; Digital Downloads; Electronics & Computers; Home & Garden; Toys, Kids & Baby; Grocery; Apparel, Shoes & Jewelry; Health & Beauty; Sports & Outdoors; and Tools, Auto & Industrial. Amazon Web Services provides Amazon’s developer customers with access to in-the-cloud infrastructure services based on Amazon’s own back-end technology platform, which developers can use to enable virtually any type of business. The new latest generation Kindle is the lightest, most compact Kindle ever and features the same 6-inch, most advanced electronic ink display that reads like real paper even in bright sunlight. Kindle Touch is a new addition to the Kindle family with an easy-to-use touch screen that makes it easier than ever to turn pages, search, shop, and take notes – still with all the benefits of the most advanced electronic ink display. Kindle Touch 3G is the top of the line e-reader and offers the same new design and features of Kindle Touch, with the unparalleled added convenience of free 3G. Kindle Fire is the Kindle for movies, TV shows, music, books, magazines, apps, games and web browsing with all the content, free storage in the Amazon Cloud, Whispersync, Amazon Silk (Amazon’s new revolutionary cloud-accelerated web browser), vibrant color touch screen, and powerful dual-core processor.

    Amazon and its affiliates operate websites… As used herein, “Amazon.com,” “we,” “our” and similar terms includeAmazon.com, Inc., and its subsidiaries, unless the context indicates otherwise.

    AMAZON.COM, INC.
    Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows
    (in millions)
    (unaudited)
    Three Months Ended Twelve Months Ended
    December 31, December 31,
    2011 2010 2011 2010
    CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS, BEGINNING OF PERIOD $ 2,823 $ 1,539 $ 3,777 $ 3,444
    OPERATING ACTIVITIES:
    Net income 177 416 631 1,152
    Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash from operating activities:
    Depreciation of fixed assets, including internal-use software and website development, and other amortization 359 170 1,083 568
    Stock-based compensation 159 120 557 424
    Other operating expense (income), net 43 29 154 106
    Losses (gains) on sales of marketable securities, net (4 ) (2 )
    Other expense (income), net (16 ) (17 ) (56 ) (79 )
    Deferred income taxes 67 48 136 4
    Excess tax benefits from stock-based compensation (1 ) (23 ) (62 ) (259 )
    Changes in operating assets and liabilities:
    Inventories (1,260 ) (693 ) (1,777 ) (1,019 )
    Accounts receivable, net and other (1,077 ) (531 ) (866 ) (295 )
    Accounts payable 4,684 3,442 2,997 2,373
    Accrued expenses and other 1,076 596 1,067 740
    Additions to unearned revenue 358 186 1,064 687
    Amortization of previously unearned revenue (300 ) (263 ) (1,021 ) (905 )
    Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities 4,269 3,480 3,903 3,495
    INVESTING ACTIVITIES:
    Purchases of fixed assets, including internal-use software and website development (550 ) (328 ) (1,811 ) (979 )
    Acquisitions, net of cash acquired, and other (49 ) (271 ) (705 ) (352 )
    Sales and maturities of marketable securities and other investments 912 1,112 6,843 4,250
    Purchases of marketable securities and other investments (1,782 ) (1,728 ) (6,257 ) (6,279 )
    Net cash provided by (used in) investing activities (1,469 ) (1,215 ) (1,930 ) (3,360 )
    FINANCING ACTIVITIES:
    Excess tax benefits from stock-based compensation 1 23 62 259
    Common stock repurchased (277 ) (277 )
    Proceeds from long-term debt and other 47 43 177 143
    Repayments of long-term debt, capital lease, and finance lease obligations (104 ) (100 ) (444 ) (221 )
    Net cash provided by (used in) financing activities (333 ) (34 ) (482 ) 181
    Foreign-currency effect on cash and cash equivalents (21 ) 7 1 17
    Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents 2,446 2,238 1,492 333
    CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS, END OF PERIOD $ 5,269 $ 3,777 $ 5,269 $ 3,777
    SUPPLEMENTAL CASH FLOW INFORMATION:
    Cash paid for interest on long term debt $ 4 $ 3 $ 14 $ 11
    Cash paid for income taxes (net of refunds) 15 13 33 75
    Fixed assets acquired under capital leases 187 122 753 405
    Fixed assets acquired under build-to-suit leases 39 14 259 172
    AMAZON.COM, INC.
    Consolidated Statements of Operations
    (in millions, except per share data)
    (unaudited)
    Three Months Ended Twelve Months Ended
    December 31, December 31,
    2011 2010 2011 2010
    Product sales $ 15,309 $ 11,729 $ 42,000 $ 30,792
    Services sales 2,122 1,219 6,077 3,412
    Net sales 17,431 12,948 48,077 34,204
    Operating expenses (1):
    Cost of sales 13,830 10,317 37,288 26,561
    Fulfillment 1,659 1,090 4,576 2,898
    Marketing 593 376 1,630 1,029
    Technology and content 862 519 2,909 1,734
    General and administrative 184 143 658 470
    Other operating expense (income), net 43 29 154 106
    Total operating expenses 17,171 12,474 47,215 32,798
    Income from operations 260 474 862 1,406
    Interest income 14 14 61 51
    Interest expense (20 ) (11 ) (65 ) (39 )
    Other income (expense), net 19 29 76 79
    Total non-operating income (expense) 13 32 72 91
    Income before income taxes 273 506 934 1,497
    Provision for income taxes (86 ) (84 ) (291 ) (352 )
    Equity-method investment activity, net of tax (10 ) (6 ) (12 ) 7
    Net income $ 177 $ 416 $ 631 $ 1,152
    Basic earnings per share $ 0.39 $ 0.93 $ 1.39 $ 2.58
    Diluted earnings per share $ 0.38 $ 0.91 $ 1.37 $ 2.53
    Weighted average shares used in computation of earnings per share:
    Basic 455 450 453 447
    Diluted 462 458 461 456
    (1) Includes stock-based compensation as follows:
    Fulfillment $ 42 $ 25 $ 133 $ 90
    Marketing 12 7 39 27
    Technology and content 80 63 292 223
    General and administrative 25 24 93 84
    AMAZON.COM, INC.
    Segment Information
    (in millions)
    (unaudited)
    Three Months Ended Twelve Months Ended
    December 31, December 31,
    2011 2010 2011 2010
    North America
    Net sales $ 9,902 $ 7,211 $ 26,705 $ 18,707
    Segment operating expenses (1) 9,617 6,916 25,772 17,752
    Segment operating income $ 285 $ 295 $ 933 $ 955
    International
    Net sales $ 7,529 $ 5,737 $ 21,372 $ 15,497
    Segment operating expenses (1) 7,352 5,410 20,732 14,516
    Segment operating income $ 177 $ 327 $ 640 $ 981
    Consolidated
    Net sales $ 17,431 $ 12,948 $ 48,077 $ 34,204
    Segment operating expenses 16,969 12,326 46,504 32,268
    Segment operating income 462 622 1,573 1,936
    Stock-based compensation (159 ) (119 ) (557 ) (424 )
    Other operating income (expense), net (43 ) (29 ) (154 ) (106 )
    Income from operations 260 474 862 1,406
    Total non-operating income (expense) 13 32 72 91
    Provision for income taxes (86 ) (84 ) (291 ) (352 )
    Equity-method investment activity, net of tax (10 ) (6 ) (12 ) 7
    Net income $ 177 $ 416 $ 631 $ 1,152
    Segment Highlights:
    Y/Y net sales growth:
    North America 37 % 45 % 43 % 46 %
    International 31 26 38 33
    Consolidated 35 36 41 40
    Y/Y segment operating income growth (decline):
    North America (4 ) % 6 % (2 ) % 35 %
    International (46 ) 3 (35 ) 14
    Consolidated (26 ) 4 (19 ) 23
    Net sales mix:
    North America 57 % 56 % 56 % 55 %
    International 43 44 44 45
    100 % 100 % 100 % 100 %
    _______________________  
    (1) Represents operating expenses, excluding stock-based compensation and “Other operating expense (income), net,” which are not allocated to segments
    AMAZON.COM, INC.
    Supplemental Net Sales Information
    (in millions)
    (unaudited)
    Three Months Ended Twelve Months Ended
    December 31, December 31,
    2011 2010 2011 2010
    North America
    Media $ 2,562 $ 2,370 $ 7,959 $ 6,881
    Electronics and other general merchandise 6,881 4,558 17,315 10,998
    Other (1) 459 283 1,431 828
    Total North America $ 9,902 $ 7,211 $ 26,705 $ 18,707
    International
    Media $ 3,447 $ 2,865 $ 9,820 $ 8,007
    Electronics and other general merchandise 4,032 2,834 11,397 7,365
    Other (1) 50 38 155 125
    Total International $ 7,529 $ 5,737 $ 21,372 $ 15,497
    Consolidated
    Media $ 6,009 $ 5,235 $ 17,779 $ 14,888
    Electronics and other general merchandise 10,913 7,392 28,712 18,363
    Other (1) 509 321 1,586 953
    Total Consolidated $ 17,431 $ 12,948 $ 48,077 $ 34,204
    Y/Y Net Sales Growth:
    North America:
    Media 8 % 13 % 16 % 15 %
    Electronics and other general merchandise 51 71 57 74
    Other 62 45 73 50
    Total North America 37 45 43 46
    International:
    Media 20 % 11 % 23 % 18 %
    Electronics and other general merchandise 42 46 55 54
    Other 32 6 24 22
    Total International 31 26 38 33
    Consolidated:
    Media 15 % 12 % 19 % 17 %
    Electronics and other general merchandise 48 60 56 66
    Other 58 39 66 46
    Total Consolidated 35 36 41 40
    Y/Y Net Sales Growth Excluding Effect of Exchange Rates:
    International:
    Media 18 % 13 % 16 % 18 %
    Electronics and other general merchandise 41 50 47 57
    Other 31 10 18 24
    Total International 29 29 31 34
    Consolidated:
    Media 14 % 13 % 16 % 16 %
    Electronics and other general merchandise 47 62 53 67
    Other 58 40 66 46
    Total Consolidated 34 37 37 40
    Consolidated Net Sales Mix:
    Media 34 % 40 % 37 % 43 %
    Electronics and other general merchandise 63 57 60 54
    Other 3 3 3 3
    100 % 100 % 100 % 100 %
    ____________________________
    (1) Includes non-retail activities, such as AWS, miscellaneous marketing and promotional agreements, other seller sites, and co-branded credit card agreements
    AMAZON.COM, INC.
    Consolidated Balance Sheets
    (in millions, except per share data)
    December 31, December 31,
    2011 2010
    ASSETS (unaudited)
    Current assets:
    Cash and cash equivalents $ 5,269 $ 3,777
    Marketable securities 4,307 4,985
    Inventories 4,992 3,202
    Accounts receivable, net and other 2,571 1,587
    Deferred tax assets 351 196
    Total current assets 17,490 13,747
    Fixed assets, net 4,417 2,414
    Deferred tax assets 28 22
    Goodwill 1,955 1,349
    Other assets 1,388 1,265
    Total assets $ 25,278 $ 18,797
    LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY
    Current liabilities:
    Accounts payable $ 11,145 $ 8,051
    Accrued expenses and other 3,751 2,321
    Total current liabilities 14,896 10,372
    Long-term liabilities 2,625 1,561
    Commitments and contingencies
    Stockholders’ equity:
    Preferred stock, $0.01 par value:
    Authorized shares — 500
    Issued and outstanding shares — none
    Common stock, $0.01 par value:
    Authorized shares — 5,000
    Issued shares — 473 and 468
    Outstanding shares — 455 and 451 5 5
    Treasury stock, at cost (877 ) (600 )
    Additional paid-in capital 6,990 6,325
    Accumulated other comprehensive loss (316 ) (190 )
    Retained earnings 1,955 1,324
    Total stockholders’ equity 7,757 6,864
    Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity $ 25,278 $ 18,797
    AMAZON.COM, INC.
    Supplemental Financial Information and Business Metrics
    (in millions, except per share data)
    (unaudited)
    Y/Y %
    Q4 2010 Q1 2011 Q2 2011 Q3 2011 Q4 2011 Change
    Cash Flows and Shares
    Operating cash flow — trailing twelve months (TTM) $ 3,495 $ 3,033 $ 3,205 $ 3,114 $ 3,903 12 %
    Purchases of fixed assets (incl. internal-use software & website development) — TTM $ 979 $ 1,138 $ 1,374 $ 1,589 $ 1,811 85 %
    Free cash flow (operating cash flow less purchases of fixed assets) — TTM $ 2,516 $ 1,895 $ 1,831 $ 1,525 $ 2,092 (17 %)
    Free cash flow — TTM Y/Y growth (14 %) (18 %) (8 %) (17 %) (17 %) N/A
    Invested capital (1) $ 7,380 $ 7,931 $ 8,551 $ 9,147 $ 9,680 31 %
    Return on invested capital (2) 34 % 24 % 21 % 17 % 22 % N/A
    Common shares and stock-based awards outstanding 465 466 468 469 468 1 %
    Common shares outstanding 451 452 454 455 455 1 %
    Stock-based awards outstanding 15 14 15 14 14 (7 %)
    Stock-based awards outstanding — % of common shares outstanding 3.2 % 3.1 % 3.2 % 3.2 % 3.0 % N/A
    Results of Operations
    Worldwide (WW) net sales $ 12,948 $ 9,857 $ 9,913 $ 10,876 $ 17,431 35 %
    WW net sales — Y/Y growth, excluding F/X 37 % 36 % 44 % 39 % 34 % N/A
    WW net sales — TTM $ 34,204 $ 36,931 $ 40,278 $ 43,594 $ 48,077 41 %
    WW net sales — TTM Y/Y growth, excluding F/X 40 % 39 % 39 % 39 % 37 % N/A
    Operating income $ 474 $ 322 $ 201 $ 79 $ 260 (45 %)
    Operating income — Y/Y growth, excluding F/X 3 % (20 )% (36 %) (77 %) (48 %) N/A
    Operating margin — % of WW net sales 3.7 % 3.3 % 2.0 % 0.7 % 1.5 % N/A
    Operating income — TTM $ 1,406 $ 1,334 $ 1,265 $ 1,076 $ 862 (39 %)
    Operating income — TTM Y/Y growth, excluding F/X 27 % 7 % (7 %) (25 %) (44 %) N/A
    Operating margin — TTM % of WW net sales 4.1 % 3.6 % 3.1 % 2.5 % 1.8 % N/A
    Net income $ 416 $ 201 $ 191 $ 63 $ 177 (58 %)
    Net income per diluted share $ 0.91 $ 0.44 $ 0.41 $ 0.14 $ 0.38 (58 %)
    Net income — TTM $ 1,152 $ 1,054 $ 1,038 $ 871 $ 631 (45 %)
    Net income per diluted share — TTM $ 2.53 $ 2.30 $ 2.26 $ 1.89 $ 1.37 (46 %)
    Segments
    North America Segment:
    Net sales $ 7,211 $ 5,465 $ 5,406 $ 5,932 $ 9,902 37 %
    Net sales — Y/Y growth, excluding F/X 45 % 45 % 50 % 44 % 37 % N/A
    Net sales — TTM $ 18,707 $ 20,392 $ 22,208 $ 24,014 $ 26,705 43 %
    Operating income $ 295 $ 290 $ 214 $ 144 $ 285 (4 %)
    Operating margin — % of North America net sales 4.1 % 5.3 % 4.0 % 2.4 % 2.9 % N/A
    Operating income — TTM $ 955 $ 972 $ 986 $ 943 $ 933 (2 %)
    Operating income — TTM Y/Y growth, excluding F/X 35 % 17 % 9 % 1 % (2 %) N/A
    Operating margin — TTM % of North America net sales 5.1 % 4.8 % 4.4 % 3.9 % 3.5 % N/A
    International Segment:
    Net sales $ 5,737 $ 4,392 $ 4,507 $ 4,944 $ 7,529 31 %
    Net sales — Y/Y growth, excluding F/X 29 % 27 % 36 % 33 % 29 % N/A
    Net sales — TTM $ 15,497 $ 16,539 $ 18,070 $ 19,580 $ 21,372 38 %
    Net sales — TTM % of WW net sales 45 % 45 % 45 % 45 % 44 % N/A
    Operating income $ 327 $ 175 $ 172 $ 116 $ 177 (46 %)
    Operating margin — % of International net sales 5.7 % 4.0 % 3.8 % 2.4 % 2.4 % N/A
    Operating income — TTM $ 981 $ 922 $ 888 $ 790 $ 640 (35 %)
    Operating income — TTM Y/Y growth, excluding F/X 20 % 4 % (7 %) (23 %) (41 %) N/A
    Operating margin — TTM % of International net sales 6.3 % 5.6 % 4.9 % 4.0 % 3.0 % N/A
    Consolidated Segments:
    Operating expenses (3) $ 12,326 $ 9,392 $ 9,527 $ 10,616 $ 16,969 38 %
    Operating expenses — TTM (3) $ 32,268 $ 35,037 $ 38,404 $ 41,860 $ 46,504 44 %
    Operating income $ 622 $ 465 $ 386 $ 260 $ 462 (26 %)
    Operating margin — % of Consolidated sales 4.8 % 4.7 % 3.9 % 2.4 % 2.7 % N/A
    Operating income — TTM $ 1,936 $ 1,894 $ 1,874 $ 1,734 $ 1,573 (19 %)
    Operating income — TTM Y/Y growth, excluding F/X 25 % 10 % 1 % (11 %) (21 %) N/A
    Operating margin — TTM % of Consolidated net sales 5.7 % 5.1 % 4.7 % 4.0 % 3.3 % N/A
    AMAZON.COM, INC.
    Supplemental Financial Information and Business Metrics
    (in millions, except inventory turnover, accounts payable days and employee data)
    (unaudited)
    Y/Y %
    Q4 2010 Q1 2011 Q2 2011 Q3 2011 Q4 2011 Change
    Supplemental
    Supplemental North America Segment Net Sales:
    Media $ 2,370 $ 1,885 $ 1,585 $ 1,927 $ 2,562 8 %
    Media — Y/Y growth, excluding F/X 13 % 18 % 19 % 21 % 8 % N/A
    Media — TTM $ 6,881 $ 7,170 $ 7,430 $ 7,767 $ 7,959 16 %
    Electronics and other general merchandise $ 4,558 $ 3,303 $ 3,496 $ 3,635 $ 6,881 51 %
    Electronics and other general merchandise — Y/Y growth, excluding F/X 71 % 63 % 67 % 56 % 51 % N/A
    Electronics and other general merchandise — TTM $ 10,998 $ 12,277 $ 13,683 $ 14,992 $ 17,315 57 %
    Electronics and other general merchandise — TTM % of North America net sales 59 % 60 % 62 % 62 % 65 % N/A
    Other $ 283 $ 277 $ 325 $ 370 $ 459 62 %
    Other — TTM $ 828 $ 945 $ 1,095 $ 1,255 $ 1,431 73 %
    Supplemental International Segment Net Sales:
    Media $ 2,865 $ 2,073 $ 2,075 $ 2,226 $ 3,447 20 %
    Media — Y/Y growth, excluding F/X 13 % 9 % 20 % 17 % 18 % N/A
    Media — TTM $ 8,007 $ 8,247 $ 8,772 $ 9,238 $ 9,820 23 %
    Electronics and other general merchandise $ 2,834 $ 2,285 $ 2,398 $ 2,681 $ 4,032 42 %
    Electronics and other general merchandise — Y/Y growth, excluding F/X 50 % 49 % 53 % 51 % 41 % N/A
    Electronics and other general merchandise — TTM $ 7,365 $ 8,162 $ 9,162 $ 10,199 $ 11,397 55 %
    Electronics and other general merchandise — TTM % of International net sales 48 % 49 % 51 % 52 % 53 % N/A
    Other $ 38 $ 34 $ 34 $ 37 $ 50 32 %
    Other — TTM $ 125 $ 130 $ 136 $ 143 $ 155 24 %
    Supplemental Worldwide Net Sales:
    Media $ 5,235 $ 3,958 $ 3,660 $ 4,153 $ 6,009 15 %
    Media — Y/Y growth, excluding F/X 13 % 13 % 20 % 19 % 14 % N/A
    Media — TTM $ 14,888 $ 15,417 $ 16,202 $ 17,005 $ 17,779 19 %
    Electronics and other general merchandise $ 7,392 $ 5,588 $ 5,894 $ 6,316 $ 10,913 48 %
    Electronics and other general merchandise — Y/Y growth, excluding F/X 62 % 57 % 62 % 54 % 47 % N/A
    Electronics and other general merchandise — TTM $ 18,363 $ 20,439 $ 22,845 $ 25,191 $ 28,712 56 %
    Electronics and other general merchandise — TTM % of WW net sales 54 % 55 % 57 % 58 % 60 % N/A
    Other $ 321 $ 311 $ 359 $ 407 $ 509 58 %
    Other — TTM $ 953 $ 1,075 $ 1,231 $ 1,398 $ 1,586 66 %
    Balance Sheet
    Cash and marketable securities $ 8,762 $ 6,881 $ 6,355 $ 6,326 $ 9,576 9 %
    Inventory, net — ending $ 3,202 $ 2,888 $ 3,229 $ 3,770 $ 4,992 56 %
    Inventory turnover, average — TTM 11.4 11.6 11.3 10.8 10.3 (10 %)
    Fixed assets, net $ 2,414 $ 2,902 $ 3,470 $ 3,999 $ 4,417 83 %
    Accounts payable — ending $ 8,051 $ 5,540 $ 5,721 $ 6,552 $ 11,145 38 %
    Accounts payable days — ending 72 66 69 72 74 3 %
    Other
    WW shipping revenue $ 437 $ 330 $ 331 $ 360 $ 531 21 %
    WW shipping costs $ 999 $ 786 $ 820 $ 918 $ 1,466 47 %
    WW net shipping costs $ 562 $ 456 $ 489 $ 558 $ 935 66 %
    WW net shipping costs — % of WW net sales 4.3 % 4.6 % 4.9 % 5.1 % 5.4 % N/A
    Employees (full-time and part-time; excludes contractors & temporary personnel) 33,700 37,900 43,200 51,300 56,200 67 %
    (1) Average Total Assets minus Current Liabilities (excluding current portion of Long Term Debt) over five quarter ends.
    (2) TTM Free Cash Flow divided by Invested Capital.
    (3) Represents cost of sales, fulfillment, marketing, technology and content, and general and administrative operating expenses, excluding stock-based compensation.

    Amazon.com, Inc.

    Certain Definitions

    Customer Accounts

    • References to customers mean customer accounts, which are unique e-mail addresses, established either when a customer places an order or when a customer orders from other sellers on our websites. Customer accounts exclude certain customers, including customers associated with certain of our acquisitions, Amazon Enterprise Solutions program customers, Amazon.com Payments customers, Amazon Web Services customers, and the customers of select companies with whom we have a technology alliance or marketing and promotional relationship. Customers are considered active when they have placed an order during the preceding twelve-month period.

    Seller Accounts

    • References to sellers means seller accounts, which are established when a seller receives an order from a customer account. Seller accounts exclude Amazon Enterprise Solutions sellers. Sellers are considered active when they have received an order from a customer during the preceding twelve-month period.

    Registered Developers

    • References to registered developers mean cumulative registered developer accounts, which are established when potential developers enroll with Amazon Web Services and receive a developer access key.

    Units

    • References to units mean physical and digital units sold (net of returns and cancellations) by us and sellers at Amazon domains worldwide…

      – as well as Amazon-owned items sold through non-Amazon domains. Units sold are paid units and do not include units associated with certain acquisitions, rental businesses, web services or advertising businesses, or Amazon gift certificates.

     

    Source: Amazon.com,

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