Amazon Earnings Forecast Shows Spending Expected To Continue

Amazon.com Inc. suffered in late trading Thursday after earnings showed higher spending than expected, but the company's forecast suggests that it expects to continue spending rapidly in the current quarter. Amazon predicted third-quarter revenue will be in a range of $39.25 billion to $41.75 billion, after posting sales of $32.7 billion in the third quarter last year. However, Amazon said it expects operating income to be in a range from a loss of $400 million to a gain of $300 million, after posting operating income of $575 million a year ago. The profit forecast was well lower than what analysts expected, even as the sales forecast was strong: Analysts on average expected third-quarter operating income of $931 million on sales of $39.98 billion. Amazon shares were down about 3% in late trading Thursday.