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Amazon: Revenues Double
Amazon reported improved financial results for its first quarter ended March 31, 2007. The revenues stood at $3.02 bn, an increase of 32% on a y-o-y basis. Net profits grew even faster at 115% to touch $111 mn. The quarter witnessed traction in Amazon Prime, the paid membership program of the company, where members get free shipping. North America continues to be the key market for the company, contributing over half the sales of the company at $1.62 bn. This segment grew by 30% while international sales representing the British, German, Japanese, French, and Chinese sites stood at $1.39 bn, up 35% from the same period last year. From the product category viewpoint, electronic and other general merchandise grew 48%, and media sales grew by 26%.

The company tied up with UK retailer Marks & Spencer for a webstore, and also launched a Sports & Leisure, and a toy store for European markets. The company also launched Unbox on TiVo, available to broadband-ready TiVo boxes. Amazon expects net revenues of $2.70 bn, and $2.85 bn for the next quarter with a growth range of 26% to 33% on an annualized basis. For the full year, revenues are expected to reach anywhere between $13.40 and $14.00 bn. Amazon is trying to expand its markets leveraging the network it has created both for enterprise and consumer markets. The recent diversification into entertainment is aimed at getting a share of the fast changing world of entertainment shopping. Shares of Amazon change hands at $69.

Google: Sales Up, Profits Down
Google reported a 63% jump in revenues for the quarter ended March 31, 2007, with its topline reaching $3.66 bn, which is also 14% higher than the fourth quarter of 2006. However, net profits were lower at $1.0 bn as compared to $1.03 bn in the fourth quarter of 2006. Google sites contributed 62% of the revenues touching $2.28 bn, while the revenues from partner sites were $1.35 bn representing 37% of the revenues.

During the quarter, the company also announced that Eric Schmidt has been voted chairman of the board of directors, and John L Hennessy, president of Stanford University, has been elected lead independent director. Google has become synonymous with the Internet search, and is now expanding its coverage to other areas such as software, and television advertising. The success of such diversifications would determine the future of the company. The company shares currently change hands at $484.

Yahoo: Moderate Performance
Yahoo reported moderate revenue growth for the first quarter of 2007. The company achieved revenues of $1.67 bn compared to $1.57 bn, up by 7%. Net profit for the period was lower at $142 mn compared to $160 mn achieved in the same quarter last year.

Revenues from the US for the first quarter of 2007 were $1.1 bn, almost flat when compared to the same period last year. On the other hand, international revenues stood at $571 mn, up a decent 22% compared to the same quarter last year. Shares of Yahoo trade at $29.

eBay: Good Show
eBay reported encouraging financial results for its first quarter ended March 31, 2007 with consolidated revenues of $1.77 bn, up 27% on an annualized basis. Net profit increased 52% y-o-y to reach $377 mn. During the quarter, the company bought back around 10 mn shares for $333 mn, and could purchase additional shares in the coming quarters.

Its marketplace business contributed a total of $1.25 bn revenues, up 23% from the same quarter last year. The number of registered users touched 233 mn, up 21% over 193 mn users registered at the end of the first quarter of last year. eBay's users made 588 mn listings in this quarter, up marginally from the same period last year. PayPal net revenues stood at $439 mn, up a solid 31% from a year ago numbers. Skype too had a good quarter with net revenues of $79 mn, up 123% from the same quarter last year. It currently has a 196 mn users, up 107% over the year ago figures.

eBay expects net revenues to be in the range of $1.75 bn to $1.8 bn for the second quarter of this year, and full year revenues to be in the range of $7.2 bn to $7.45 bn. eBay has done well to leverage its diversification first with the acquisition of PayPal and Skype. It continues to show solid growth on all its three business lines. Shares of eBay change hands at $33.

Value Click: Improved Results
ValueClick reported better than expected financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2007. Revenues for the first quarter of 2007 stood at $156.9 mn, up 34% from $117.3 mn reported for the same quarter last year. Net income for the first quarter of 2007 was $18.6 mn compared to $9.8 mn achieved for the first quarter of 2006. These results include the three months operations from Shopping.net, and organic growth would have been lower otherwise. Shopping.net provides a free search service for online buyers to search online shops for a particular product, compare prices, and find the most suitable deal. The acquisition marks the entry of ValueClick into the specialized search market.

With the improved performance for the first quarter, the company has upgraded its guidance for fiscal 2007 with revenue guidance being $655-665 mn. For the second quarter, the revenue expectation is around $158 mn. Shares of ValueClick currently trade at $33.

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