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Seattle, Washington - (Website Hosting Directory) - April 29, 2008 - E-commerce web hosting provider, Amazon.com, has released financial results for its first quarter ended March 31, 2008.

Operating cash flow was $1.04 billion for the trailing twelve months, compared with $0.73 billion for the trailing twelve months ended March 31, 2007. Free cash flow increased 51% to $0.79 billion for the trailing twelve months, compared with $0.52 billion for the trailing twelve months ended March 31, 2007. Common shares outstanding plus shares underlying stock-based awards outstanding totaled 435 million on March 31, 2008, compared with 430 million a year ago.

Net sales increased 37% to $4.13 billion in the first quarter, compared with $3.02 billion in first quarter 2007. Excluding the $0.18 billion favorable impact from year-over-year changes in foreign exchange rates throughout the quarter, net sales grew 31% compared with first quarter 2007.

Operating income increased 36% to $198 million in the first quarter, compared with $145 million in first quarter 2007. Excluding the $14 million favorable impact from year-over-year changes in foreign exchange rates throughout the quarter, operating income grew 27% compared with first quarter 2007.

Net income increased 30% to $143 million in the first quarter, or $0.34 per diluted share, compared with net income of $111 million, or $0.26 per diluted share, in first quarter 2007.

Jeff Bezos, Founder and CEO of Amazon.com remarked, ”Our sales growth this quarter was driven by low prices and millions of in-stock items available for immediate shipment. We’re grateful to our customers.”

Highlights include:

• Kindle selection continues to grow - with more than 115,000 titles now available, up from 90,000 at launch.
• Amazon Web Services (AWS) launched Elastic IP addresses and the ability to provide compute instances in multiple Availability Zones, two new features that enable Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) developers to build even more powerful and fault-resilient applications in the cloud.
• Over 370,000 developers have registered to use AWS, up more than 35,000 from last quarter.
• The Company launched Amazon TextBuyIt (www.textbuyit.com), a service that lets customers use text messages to find and buy products sold on Amazon.com. With the addition of TextBuyIt to the existing mobile offering, customers can now shop, compare prices and buy from virtually anywhere they are with any mobile device.
• The number of sellers using Fulfillment by Amazon increased by more than 50% compared with fourth quarter 2007.
• North America segment sales, representing the Company’s U.S. and Canadian sites, were $2.13 billion, up 31% from first quarter 2007.
• International segment sales, representing the Company’s U.K., German, Japanese, French and Chinese sites, were $2.01 billion, up 44% from first quarter 2007, and increased to 49% of worldwide net sales compared with 46%. Excluding the favorable impact from year-over-year changes in foreign exchange rates throughout the quarter, International sales grew 31%.
• Worldwide Media sales grew 28% to $2.54 billion in first quarter 2008, compared with $1.99 billion in first quarter 2007.
• Worldwide Electronics and Other General Merchandise sales grew 56% to $1.48 billion in first quarter 2008, compared with $0.95 billion in first quarter 2007, and increased to 36% of worldwide net sales compared with 31%.

The following forward-looking statements reflect Amazon.com’s expectations as of April 23, 2008. Results may be materially affected by many factors, such as fluctuations in foreign exchange rates, changes in global economic conditions and consumer spending, world events, the rate of growth of the Internet and online commerce, and the various factors detailed below.

Net sales are expected to be between $3.875 billion and $4.075 billion, or to grow between 34% and 41% compared with second quarter 2007.

• Operating income is expected to be between $120 million and $160 million, or to grow between 3% and 38% compared with second quarter 2007. This guidance includes approximately $80 million for stock-based compensation and amortization of intangible assets, and it assumes, among other things, that no additional business acquisitions or investments are concluded and that there are no further revisions to stock-based compensation estimates.

Full Year 2008 Expectations include:

• Net sales are expected to be between $19.1 billion and $20.0 billion, or to grow between 29% and 35% compared with 2007.
• Operating income is expected to be between $740 million and $940 million, or to grow between 13% and 43% compared with 2007. This guidance includes approximately $285 million for stock-based compensation and amortization of intangible assets, and it assumes, among other things, that no additional business acquisitions or investments are concluded and that there are no further revisions to stock-based compensation estimates.

Recently, Amazon Web Services LLC, an affiliate of Amazon.com, Inc.’s Founder, Jeff Bezos, accepted an invitation to speak at the Carnegie Mellon Business School and Computer Science Diploma Ceremonies. Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pa., is a distinctive, world-class research university that blends cutting-edge programs across many disciplines including business, computer science, the arts and sciences, engineering and public policy.

As guest speaker, Mr. Bezos will preside over Carnegie Mellon’s diploma ceremonies for its Tepper School of Business and School of Computer Science during the university’s commencement weekend, May 17-18.

Mr. Bezos will speak to business school graduates receiving master’s and doctor’s degrees at 2 p.m., Saturday, May 17 at Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall, 4141 Fifth Avenue in Oakland. He will receive an honorary doctorate in science and technology during the 11 a.m. university-wide commencement ceremony on Sunday, May 18.

At 1 p.m., Sunday afternoon, he will speak to graduates of the School of Computer Science at the Carnegie Music Hall, 4400 Forbes Avenue in Oakland. In 1994, Bezos created a business model that leveraged the Internet’s unique ability to deliver huge amounts of information rapidly and efficiently, and founded Amazon.com Inc. Today, it is the leading online retailer.

Kenneth B. Dunn, Dean of the Tepper School of Business noted, ”Tepper School graduates around the world are renowned for their innovations within the intersection of business and technology, so it is a special privilege to host a leader whose vision both reflects and inspires our own school’s mission.”

Before heading west to start Amazon.com, Mr. Bezos worked at the juncture of computer science and finance, helping to build one of the most technically sophisticated quantitative hedge funds on Wall Street for D.E. Shaw and Co. He also led the development of computer systems that helped manage more than $250 billion in assets for Bankers Trust Company.

Randal E. Bryant, Dean of the School of Computer Science remarked, ”We are pleased that Jeff Bezos, an executive with a deep understanding of how computer science is transforming our world, will be sharing his insights with our graduates this year. Much of Amazon’s success stems from the sophistication of its computer and networking technology and we are proud that Amazon has hired a number of our students over the years to help build that technology.”

Some 58 alumni of Carnegie Mellon work for Amazon, including 16 with degrees from the School of Computer Science. About Carnegie Mellon: Carnegie Mellon is a private research university with a distinctive mix of programs in engineering, computer science, robotics, business, public policy, fine arts and the humanities.

Amazon Web Services provides Amazon’s developer customers with access to in-the-cloud infrastructure services based on Amazon’s own back-end technology platform, which developers can use to enable virtually any type of business. Examples of the services offered by Amazon Web Services are Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2), Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3), Amazon SimpleDB, Amazon Simple Queue Service (Amazon SQS), Amazon Flexible Payments Service (Amazon FPS), and Amazon Mechanical Turk.

For more information about Carnegie Mellon, please visit: www.cmu.edu.

To learn more, please visit: www.amazon.com.

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