Amazon.com losses soar

Including its latest $308 million quarterly loss, Amazon.com, internet’s biggest retailer, has now lost a combined $1.2 billion during the past 24 quarters. Sales, however, continue to rise, jumping from $293 million a year ago to $574 million in the first three months of 2000.

Jeff Bezos, Amazon.com CEO and founder, said the reason for the losses was heaving spending to gain a powerful position in online retailing — the motive behind this being that large profits could be generated when the firm reached a certain critical mass and the online retail market grew into a huge business. On Wall Street, however, investors have been getting impatient with Amazon.com, whose stock value has fallen by 50% in the past four months. “All of these companies at some point have to make the transition from vaporware to a profitable business,” said Jonathan Schoolar, an analyst with Aim Advisors.