Amazon loss grows in Q2 even as sales rise 23%

Seattle – Amazon.com reported a second quarter net loss of $126 million, compared to a net loss of $7 million in the same period last year, as it continues to spend heavily on investments. The loss was nearly double what Wall Street higher expected. Operating expenses rose 24% to $19.36 billion.



Net sales increased 23% to $19.34 billion in the second quarter, compared with $15.70 billion in second quarter 2013. Net sales met Wall Street expectations. A favorable change in foreign exchange rates boosted revenues.



Amazon introduced a number of new products and services during the quarter, including the Fire smartphone (which started shipping July 24), Sunday delivery coverage to 25% of the U.S. population, European cross-border Two-Day Delivery for Prime, Prime Music with more than one million songs, and Kindle Unlimited, an ebook subscription service.



“We continue working hard on making the Amazon customer experience better and better,” said Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon.com. “We’ve recently introduced Sunday delivery coverage to 25% of the U.S. population, launched European cross-border Two-Day Delivery for Prime, launched Prime Music with over one million songs, created three original kids TV series, added world-class parental controls to Fire TV with FreeTime, and launched Kindle Unlimited, an eBook subscription service. And today customers all over the U.S. will begin receiving their new Fire phones — including Firefly, Dynamic Perspective, and one full year of Prime — we can’t wait to get them in customers’ hands.”



For the third quarter, Amazon is forecasting an operating loss between $410 million and $810 million, compared with $25 million a year earlier. The company also expects third-quarter revenue between $19.7 billion and $21.5 billion, which is up to 26% higher than the year-ago period.