Disappointing outlook pushes Amazon stock down 9.9%

Amazon CEO Jeꦕff Bezos’ magic spell over Wall Stre🔜et is broken.

That, at least, is what Amazon’s stock suggested on Friday, tumbling nearly 10 percent after the online retail giant gave a disappointing profi🐻t outlook.

For years, Amazon shares have climbed steadily, reaching stratospheric valuations despite the compaﷺny’s failure to consistently generate earnings. Its shares trade at a multiple of 500 times earnings — a🧔 lofty valuation that is reminiscent of the first dot-com bubble.

Investors have long been willing to bet that Bezos’ strꩵategy of plowing the company’s cash back into its operations will pay off, eventually creating a spectacularly profitable gorilla of e-commerce.

Late Thursday, Amazon delivered first-quarter earnings that fit the pattern, with revenue surging 23 percent, to $19.74 billion, driving a relatively modest ꦰprofit of $108 million.

The company’s outlook, however, may have shaken even the most loyal among the Bezos 💃faithful.

Amaz💝on warned that operating losses in the current ♉quarter could total as much as $455 million, vs. an operating profit of $79 million just a year earlier.

That guidance included $455 million in stock🦂-based compensation for employees. But it also stoked concerns on Wall Street about never-ending investments🎃 in infrastructure.

Amazon grabbed attention this week with its 𒅌g🐟argantuan effort to establish its own package-delivery network to reduce its reliance on FedEx, UPS and the post office.

“We expect the company to push deeper into delivery logistics, and while this may allow same-day delivery, it is likely to represent another major investment initi𓄧ative,” said BG🏅C Partners analyst Colin Gillis.

That, along with a slew of overseas investments in markets like China and Spain, means that Amazon “will be in ‘EPS push-out’ mode for at least another year,” said Canaccord Genuity analyst Michael Graham, referring to the company’s ear💧nings per share.

The shares, which traded above $400 in January, on Friday lost $33.32🎃, or 9.9 percent, to close at $303.8𝓰3. The drop slashed the value of Bezos’ stake in the company by nearly $2.8 billion.

To counter rising shipping costs, Amazon recently hiked the price of its Prime p𓂃remiu🥃m shipping and video-streaming service to $99 a year, from $79 a year.

Amazon execs signaled Thursday that🍨 the price hike wasn’t getting pushback from customers. Still, it won’t be enough to offset continued shipping losses,♕ says BGC’s Gillis. He calculates that Amazon spent $2.15 on shipping cost for every dollar in shipping revenue.

“With a shipping loss of $980 million in the quarter💮, the recently announced prime price increase is only going to be (a) small offset,” Gillis said.

Amazon, meanwhile, has spent lavishly on new product rollouts,ไ including the new Fire set-top box, which has received mixed reviews.

Earlier this week, Amazon signed an estimated $300 million deal to gain exclusive video-streamin🐎g content from HBO.