AMZN: From Leader to Goat

Investors in Amazon.com (AMZN) tend to be pretty fickle.  Over the last few years, they have flip-flopped back and forth between focusing on profits and focusing on market share.  In several of the company's recent quarterly earnings reports, investors ignored the fact that the company missed EPS forecasts, and instead praised the company for 'investing in the business' and gaining market share.  

In its last report, however, investors are back to focusing on profits. After missing EPS forecasts in late October, investors have taken off the rose-colored glasses and headed for the exits.  Less than two months ago, AMZN was eating everyone's lunch, trading at all-time highs, and about to launch a 'game changer' in the tablet market.  Today, AMZN may still be eating everyone's lunch, but it has nothing to show for it.  The stock is following in the same path as several of the market's other highfliers earlier this year like NFLX and GMCR, and is now within two points of being down on the year.  Even sentiment on the Kindle Fire has turned south.  Instead of being a game changer, the Fire is now showing no signs of threatening the iPad, and at least one expert in the tablet field says that the Fire will be a failure.

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