Amazon's Stock Falls After Q3 Earnings Miss, Lower Sales Forecast

Amazon.com, Inc. AMZN posted mixed third-quarter results Thursday, with the e-commerce platform reporting earnings of $4.23 per share, missing a $4.60 Street estimate, and sales of $69.98 billion that beat a $68.79-billion estimate.

The company reported a 4.5% operating margin in the quarter.

Third-quarter Amazon Web Services net sales totaled $8.9 billion, representing 35% year-over-year growth.

Amazon guided to fourth-quarter sales in a range of $80-$86.5 billion, lower than the Street expectation of $87.37 billion.

"We are ramping up to make our 25th holiday season the best ever for Prime customers — with millions of products available for free one-day delivery," Jeff Bezos, Amazon founder and CEO, said in a statement.

"Customers love the transition of Prime from two days to one day — they've already ordered billions of items with free one-day delivery this year. It's a big investment, and it's the right long-term decision for customers."

The faster delivery speeds produce the least carbon emissions because the orders are shipped from fulfillment centers close to the customer, Bezos said.

The stock was falling by 7.4% to $1,649 in Thursday's after-hours session.

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Photo courtesy of Amazon.