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Are Investors Losing Patience With Amazon?

By Alison Southwick and Ron Gross – Jan 31, 2014 at 1:53PM

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Amazon has missed earnings estimates before, but the stock rarely reacts like this. Are investors losing patience?

On Friday's installment of Investor Beat, host Alison Southwick and Motley Fool Million Dollar Portfolio lead advisor Ron Gross take a look at some of the biggest blockbuster stories from this earnings season, to see who popped, and who dropped.

Although Amazon (AMZN 1.26%) was able to increase sales by 20% year over year this quarter, to $25.6 billion, analysts wanted to see $26 billion, and the stock sold off 10% as a result. Amazon has missed analysts' estimates before, but the market is generally much more forgiving than this. Could investors be getting tired of Amazon's old excuse, that the reason we don't see soaring profits with this company is because it is eternally reinvesting in its future? In this segment, Ron discusses why the old excuse still holds true, and why this is truly a stock for long-term investors, not for those who need to see profits today.

Alison Southwick has no position in any stocks mentioned. Ron Gross has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Amazon.com. The Motley Fool owns shares of Amazon.com. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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