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NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Amazon continues to follow its strategic policy to invest for the longterm by focusing on growing sales and gaining market share today at the expense of lower earnings and almost non-existent margins.
The online retailer giant reported earnings (14 cents per share) substantially below its analysts' consensus (23 cents per share) and this morning Amazon's (AMZN, Fortune 500) stockholders took an 11% haircut. Sales grew 49%, but still came in slightly below the average estimate.
In other earnings news, Ford (F, Fortune 500) reported profit for the ninth consecutive quarter, this time only a bit above the consensus. Its stock still fell 6% in mid-day trading as investors were disappointed by lower margins and that the widely anticipated dividend was not reinstated.
Another major earnings report came from Corning (GLW, Fortune 500), which is an important bellwether for the state of the consumer electronics industry as it is a major provider of specialty glass for display technologies that are used in LCD TVs, laptops, smart phones and tablets. Corning announced record sales and earnings a bit above consensus estimates. Its shares gained 2% in a weak tape.
These are some of the popular themes on StockTwits Wednesday:
Retail_Guru: Amazon revenue miss drives stock down; when sales don't blow out lights, investors finally notice margins, free cash flow are down $AMZN.
fundmyfund: $$ 3rd earnings miss in past 6 quarters for $AMZN but you would not tell from the stock "Revenue trumps all"
Corning Flaws on 2012: Expect LCD TV retail demand to grow, potentially in double-digit range. Could lead to robust glass market next year. $GLW.
Street_Insider: $GLW Q3 adj-EPS of 48c, beats by 6c, sales $2.08B, vs. cons. $2.01B
TCBowl: @robertburke No dividend for $F thats what the whole run-up was about
ToddSullivan: $F has $2.13/share net cash. Ex cash, currently trades at 5.8X this years 1st 9 months EPS and 4.7X 2011 FY EPS. 
| Index | Last | Change | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dow | 32,627.97 | -234.33 | -0.71% |
| Nasdaq | 13,215.24 | 99.07 | 0.76% |
| S&P 500 | 3,913.10 | -2.36 | -0.06% |
| Treasuries | 1.73 | 0.00 | 0.12% |
| Company | Price | Change | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ford Motor Co | 8.29 | 0.05 | 0.61% |
| Advanced Micro Devic... | 54.59 | 0.70 | 1.30% |
| Cisco Systems Inc | 47.49 | -2.44 | -4.89% |
| General Electric Co | 13.00 | -0.16 | -1.22% |
| Kraft Heinz Co | 27.84 | -2.20 | -7.32% |
| Overnight Avg Rate | Latest | Change | Last Week |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30 yr fixed | 3.80% | 3.88% | |
| 15 yr fixed | 3.20% | 3.23% | |
| 5/1 ARM | 3.84% | 3.88% | |
| 30 yr refi | 3.82% | 3.93% | |
| 15 yr refi | 3.20% | 3.23% |
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