Holidays Help Amazon.com Post Strong 4th-Quarter Sales

Amazon.com Inc. said its fourth-quarter sales nearly quadrupled to $250 million as holiday shoppers worldwide flocked to its World Wide Web sites. The sales boost won’t reduce its anticipated loss for the quarter, however.

The No. 1 online book and music retailer said it shipped 7.5 million items during the holiday season, more than in all of 1997.

The sales results beat estimates calling for about $175 million, though many analysts speculated that it would top forecasts when it expanded into selling videos and gifts in November. It had $66 million in sales a year ago.

Amazon.com drew more than 1 million first-time customers between Nov. 17 and the year’s end.

Separately, Nashville-based Shop at Home Inc., the third-largest U.S. home-shopping specialty retailer, said its Internet sales jumped 135% in December from a year earlier.

CNet Inc., which produces Web sites and television shows about technology, estimates that it referred about $80 million worth of business in the fourth quarter to merchants who list goods on its Web pages.

San Francisco-based CNet said $32 million in business was referred to merchants in December, double the amount in September, as more consumers did holiday shopping online.

Amazon.com said aggressive price cuts and higher customer service costs will keep it from turning a profit for the quarter despite the strong holiday sales.

Analysts expect Amazon.com to report a loss of 54 cents a share in the fourth quarter, compared with a loss of 7 cents a year ago, according to First Call.

Amazon.com’s shares, which split 3-for-1 Tuesday, rose $6.19 to close at $124.50 in heavy Nasdaq trading.