24 Jul 2015 Amazon and Apple Take Part in a Keynesian Beauty Contest

Amazon shares are up more than 20%–adding to gains of more than 80% this year–in the wake of an earnings report that was described as surprising, a blowout, even “shocking.” What otherworldly figure did the online retailer produce to warrant that adjective? $92 million. Amazon earned $92 million in profit on sales of $23.2 billion. That’s a thin, thin profit, a net margin narrower than 1%.