Amazon.com's second-quarter earnings plunged nearly 58% as the online retailer focused on giving customers cheap or free shipping deals and investing in new technologies, an Associated Press report said.
The report said Amazon.com shares fell more than 12% in after-hours trading as the online retailer also said it planned to invest heavily in its new toy sales strategy and cut prices on many products.
The latest spending plans left some wondering when the investments would pay off.
"In some respects, it's kind of one thing after another," Dan Geiman, an analyst with McAdams Wright Ragen, was quoted as saying.
But analyst Bob Toomey with E.K. Riley Advisors said the hefty investments were consistent with how Amazon.com operated.
The report said that for the three months ended June 30, the company reported a profit of $22 million, or $0.05 per share, compared with earnings of $52 million, or $0.12 per share, in the same period a year earlier.
In a conference call, Amazon.com CFO Tom Szkutak said net income was hurt by approximately $10 million because of the termination of a contract with Toys R Us.
The report said Amazon.com shares fell more than 12% in after-hours trading as the online retailer also said it planned to invest heavily in its new toy sales strategy and cut prices on many products.
The latest spending plans left some wondering when the investments would pay off.
"In some respects, it's kind of one thing after another," Dan Geiman, an analyst with McAdams Wright Ragen, was quoted as saying.
But analyst Bob Toomey with E.K. Riley Advisors said the hefty investments were consistent with how Amazon.com operated.
The report said that for the three months ended June 30, the company reported a profit of $22 million, or $0.05 per share, compared with earnings of $52 million, or $0.12 per share, in the same period a year earlier.
In a conference call, Amazon.com CFO Tom Szkutak said net income was hurt by approximately $10 million because of the termination of a contract with Toys R Us.