Amazon shares dip on growth concerns

Amazon shares dip on growth concerns

Stock Market Predictions

(Global Markets) - Amazon.com Inc shares fell to their lowest level since late March on Thursday on concern about sales growth during the online retailer's crucial fourth quarter.

Goldman Sachs analysts said in a note from Wednesday that Amazon has typically bested overall online sales growth by 23 points.

comScore reported earlier this week that online holiday spending in the U.S. rose 15 percent to a record $35 billion from November 1 to December 26, versus the comparable period last year.

That would suggest a 38 percent increase in Amazon sales this season, below the 40 percent increase Wall Street expects, wrote Goldman, which expects 44 percent, including Kindle sales.

"While the comScore numbers are just one data point which does not capture international sales or breakout individual companies' sales, taken alone they seem to suggest the potential for downside risk to consensus forecasts for 4Q 2011," the analysts said.

Shares of Amazon fell as low as $166.97 in early trading on Thursday, the lowest level since late March. The stock recovered by midday to $173, down 0.5 percent.

Amazon shares reached almost $250 in October, but have dropped by about 30 percent since then. Shares of rival e-commerce company eBay have lost roughly 10 percent in the same period.

Amazon said on Thursday it has sold "well over" 1 million Kindle e-reader and tablet devices per week this month.

Goldman's 44 percent sales growth forecast for the fourth quarter, versus a year earlier, includes three to four percentage points of growth from Kindle device sales that the analysts said are not currently incorporated in Wall Street consensus estimates.

(Reporting By Phil Wahba and Alistair Barr; editing by Mark Porter and Tim Dobbyn)

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Clearwire shares fall on Google stake sale

Clearwire shares fall on Google stake sale

Stock Market Predictions

NEW YORK (Global Markets) - Clearwire Corp (CLWR.O) shares closed down almost 7 percent on Friday after Google Inc (GOOG.O) said it would sell its stake in the company.

An analyst said that Google's sale of the shares at a discount could be followed by other investors ditching their shares in the wireless service provider.

Google would reap just over $47 million from the sale of the shares, implying a massive loss of $453 million for Google, which invested $500 million in Clearwire in 2008. Google has already taken impairment charges of $443 million in recent years related to the investment.

Cable operators, including Comcast Corp (CMCSA.O) and Time Warner Cable (TWC.N), also have invested in Clearwire, which is majority owned by Sprint Nextel (S.N).

Since the cable operators have recently entered an agreement to resell mobile services from Verizon Wireless, the biggest U.S. mobile service, the concern is that they will also sell their stakes in Clearwire. Before the Verizon deal the cable operators depended on Clearwire as their wholesale provider.

"With no strategic reason to hold Clearwire shares, these ownership stakes could also make their way into the market," said Evercore analyst Jonathan Schildkraut.

Time Warner Cable said it does not have any immediate plans to sell its stake in Clearwire. Comcast did not respond to requests for comment.

According to a document filed with regulators on Friday, Google said it would sell the 29.4 million shares it holds in Clearwire for $1.60 per share to Clearwire's other strategic investors, which include Intel Corp (INTC.O), or on Nasdaq.

Clearwire shares closed down 15 cents, or 6.84 percent, at $2.11 on Nasdaq after the news. If the Google sale is conducted on Nasdaq, it will start on or about February 27.

Google invested in Clearwire in November 2008 along with Intel, Comcast and others as the search giant wanted to help kick off the company's plan to build a high-speed network.

Shares in Google closed up $3.79 at $609.90 on Nasdaq.

(Reporting by Sinead Carew in New York, Alexei Oreskovic in San Francisco and Yinka Adegoke in New York; editing by Mark Porter, Phil Berlowitz)

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