Despite posting sales figures of $22.7 billion, e-retailer giant Amazon has posted a net loss of $57 million in its first quarter of business of 2015. Net sales increased 15 percent to $22.72 billion in the first quarter, compared with $19.7 billion in first quarter 2014. Excluding the $1.3 billion unfavorable impact from changes in foreign exchange rates throughout the quarter, net sales increased 22 percent compared to first quarter 2014.
Operating cash flow increased 47 percent to $7.84 billion for the trailing twelve months, compared with $5.35 billion in the prior 12 months. Free cash flow increased to $3.16 billion, compared with $1.49 billion for the trailing twelve months that ended March 31, 2014.
Operating income increased 74 percent to $255 million in the first quarter, compared with operating income of $146 million in first quarter 2014. Net loss was $0.12 per diluted share, compared with net income of $108 million, or $0.23 per diluted share, in first quarter 2014.
Not all is pointing to continued losses, however. CEO Jeff Bezos pointed to Amazon Web services being a $5 billion business annually, and “still growing fast — in fact it’s accelerating.”
The company expects net sales to be between $20.6 billion and $22.8 billion in the second quarter of 2015, or to grow between seven and 18 percent compared with second quarter 2014. The company is expecting to report operating income next quarter between a loss of $500 million and a profit of $50 million.
