Amazon shares tumble despite a quarterly revenue jump of 29 pc

Even as Amazon.com reported a 29 percent rise in quarterly revenue on recently, the companies shares fell 6 per cent in after-hours trading in New York as it significantly missed earnings expectations in the third quarter.
The world’s biggest online retailer said its net sales rose to $US32.71 billion in third quarter ended September 30 from $US25.36 billion a year earlier. Analysts had expected net sales of $US32.69 billion, according to Thomson Reuters
Amazon’s net income rose to $252 million, or 52 cents per share, from $79 million, or 17 cents per share, a year earlier, marking the company’s sixth straight profitable quarter.
Revenue from Amazon Web Services, the company’s cloud services business, surged 55 percent to $3.23 billion, beating the average estimate of $3.19 billion, according to market research firm FactSet StreetAccount.
Amazon shares, which have risen 21.25 per cent so far this year, fell 6.2 per cent to $764.
For the crucial fourth quarter, Amazon forecast sales between $42bn and $45.5bn, up between 17 and 27 per cent compared with the fourth quarter of 2015. But it said it expected operating income of between zero and $1.3bn, compared with $1.1bn in the fourth quarter of 2015.
During the quarter, Amazon also expanded its push into bricks-and-mortar retail, opening storefronts on the US West Coast where customers can pick up items, and launched its Echo speaker and voice-activated personal assistant Alexa in Europe.
Amazon said in July that customers placed 60 percent more orders worldwide in its second Prime Day sale despite technical glitches but it did not provide sales figures at the time.