SEATTLE _ Amazon.com sales during the key holiday quarter came in under Wall Street expectations, dampened by a half a billion dollar hit from the strengthening dollar.
The e-commerce giant posted sales of $43.7 billion, a 22 percent increase from last year. Analysts expected an average of $44.68 billion, a 25 percent increase. Amazon said that if it were to exclude a $558 million charge resulting from foreign exchange gyrations, its sales would have increased 24 percent versus the same period last year.
Profit, on the other hand, was higher than expected, at $749 million or $1.54 per diluted share, versus $482 million a year ago. Analysts were expecting $1.35 per share in profits.
Shares tumbled 3.86 percent to $807.50 in after-hours trading, in the immediate wake of the report.
