Everyone awed by Facebook’s $50 billion valuation may want to break away for at least a moment to consider Amazon’s future. An analyst with Morgan Stanley has predicted that Amazon will generate an impressive $100 billion in revenue in 2015.
To put that in perspective: Amazon reported $7.56 billion in revenue during the third quarter of 2010, $6.57 billion during the second quarter, $7.13 billion during the first quarter, and $9.52 billion during the fourth quarter of 2009 (totaling $30.78 billion), so $100 billion in a single year will represent a huge increase.
Still, summing up a report authored by Morgan Stanley’s Scott Devitt, Larry Dignan wrote, "Amazon is likely to hit $100 billion in annual revenue and is on a growth path that eclipses the world’s most successful retailer – Wal-Mart."
That’s in part because "[i]nternational expansion continues," "[n]ew efforts such as Amazon Web Services and digital sales via the Kindle platform are promising," and "[s]ubscription e-commerce for grocery staples is another promising avenue."
Also, as reported by Dignan, "Amazon can fuel growth just by taking wallet share from its existing customers. Amazon’s 121 million customers spend about $275 a year. Wal-Mart’s 300 million customers spend $750 a year excluding groceries and Sam’s Club."
This situation will definitely bear watching. And for what it’s worth, Amazon’s stock rose 0.43 percent during normal trading hours today and is up another 0.08 percent so far in after-hours trading.
