Financial Analysis of Amazon.comT1 - 9. Brief description of the company: Founder and CEO Jeff Bezos opened the virtual doors of Amazon's online store .com in July 1995. The company was incorporated in 1994 in Washington state and reincorporated in 1996 in Delaware. The Company's principal offices are located in Seattle, Washington. Amazon.com completed its initial public offering in May 1997, and its common stock is listed on the NASDAQ National Market under the symbol AMZN. Amazon.com's fiscal year is based on the calendar year and the last day of the fiscal year is December 31. The closing price of the shares on February 1, 2006 was $43.98. Amazon has never declared or paid any cash dividends on its common stock. Amazon.com Inc. operates websites that sell various products and services, which primarily include clothing, shoes, and accessories; health and personal care; baby care products; books; camera and photography; and consumer electronics. The Company and other sellers also offer various new, refurbished and used items in categories such as Health & Personal Care, Jewelry & Watches, Fine Dining, Sports & Outdoors, Apparel and accessories, books, music, digital versatile discs, electronics and office, toys and baby, home and garden. These products are purchased from distributors, publishers and manufacturers. The Company and its subsidiaries operate seven retail websites: www.amazon.com, www.amazon.co.uk, www.amazon.de, www.amazon.co.jp, www.amazon.fr, www. amazon.ca, and www.joyo.com. It also operates www.a9.com and www.alexa.com which provide search and navigation, as well as www.imdb.com, a movie database website. As mentioned earlier, Jeffery P. Bezons is the Chairman and CEO... ... middle of paper ......g losses for several years and has not paid any dividends to its shareholders to date. Additionally, stock market data for the first quarter of 2006 shows that Amazon lost more than $10 in its stock price (a major blow to shareholders receiving no dividend) during the quarter (see chart below). Additionally, the company's bleak net cash flow picture almost put it on the brink of bankruptcy. Industry-to-business data also discourages investors from putting their money into Amazon.com. The company ranks 15th (of 119 total industry) in price-to-equity ratio, 29th in EPS growth and long-term (5-year) growth rate, and 39th in revenue growth . (Source: www.finance.yahoo.com). Amazon.com's industry ranking attracts potential investors to other successful companies in the same industry. Figure 1: Stock Price Trend