Amazon earnings up, no details on digital sales

By Jennifer Netherby -- Video Business, 4/23/2008

APRIL 23 | Strong U.S. and international sales pushed Amazon.com earnings up 29% to $143 million during the first quarter, the retailer said Wednesday.

Revenue was up 37% to $4.14 billion.

Revenue from the North American media division, which includes DVD sales, was up 22% to $1.2 billion for the quarter.

As in previous quarters, the company didn’t break out digital sales. “We’re extremely happy with what we’re able to offer customers,” CEO Jeff Bezos said when asked about digital performance. “It’s very, very early. We’re very pleased with the traction.”

Amazon has deals with every major studio but Disney to sell movie and TV downloads through its Unbox service, which allows users to download videos to their computer or directly to their TiVo for TV playback.

Last year, Amazon signed deals with the four major record labels to sell DRM-free music downloads and compete with market dominator Apple iTunes. A report out from NPD Group last week showed that Amazon is expanding the music download market.

Despite the strong first quarter performance, the company’s stock slid 5% in after hours trading Wednesday to $77, after it lowered its guidance for the year. Amazon now expects full-year operating income in a range of $740 million to $940 million, about $45 million below its earlier forecast range.

When asked during an earnings conference call if the company has seen a slowdown or shift in spending due to the economy, Bezos said, “We don’t have a lot of data points about the economy specifically, but what we’re seeing in our business is, it’s very solid.”