Bemax Inc (BMXC)

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Amazon was founded in 1994, first traded publicly in 1997, and didn’t turn a profit until 2001. Four years of losses are an eon for any company, especially an upstart, and especially one with such grand ambitions. Amazon lost a staggering amount of money while building its brand and grasping market share, putting itself in a position where it would eventually dominate. The company lost several billion dollars its first few years, money that very few people thought would ever be recouped. Here are the company’s annual net income numbers:

Year Annual Net Income
2013

$274M

2012

$39M

2011

$631M

2010

$1.15B

2009

$902M

2008

$645M

2007

$476M

2006

$190M

2005

$359M

2004

$588M

2003

$35M

2002

$149M

2001

$567M

2000

$1.4B

1999

$720M

1998

$125M

1997

$31M

1996

$6M

1995

$303T

1994

$50T

Add it all up, and Amazon’s profits for its entire existence are still less than what ExxonMobil (NYSE:XOM
Exxon Mobil Corp
XOM
81.42
+0.22%
) takes home every 2.5 weeks. Amazon’s investors and lenders had uncommon patience early in the company’s public trading history, as Bezos and his executive team managed to convince them that not only was Amazon viable, but pioneering. Investor sentiment being what it was, the stock jumped capriciously. If you’d bought Amazon stock in June of 1997 and held it for 22 months, you would have turned $1,000 into $68,913. If you’d bought Amazon stock in Dec. of 1999 and held it for 22 months, you’d have turned $1,000 into $56. And if you’d invested aggressively then, doubling down on Amazon instead of cutting your losses, and bought $1,000 more, you’d be sitting on $62,229 today. Excluding dividends, and there’s a good reason for doing so.



Read more: Amazon Never Makes Money But No One Cares | Investopedia http://www.investopedia.com/stock-analysis/031414/amazon-never-makes-money-no-one-cares-amzn-aapl-wag-azo.aspx#ixzz4lEKtX7dW
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