Amazon.com released its first-quarter results last week (which contained no specific mention of Canada), to the disappointment of most investors. It appears that Amazon’s aggressive investment in the toy and grocery categories is dampening profits.

While net sales for the period were $2.14-billion, a rise of 22% over last year, net income was $22-million, down from $52-million last year. As Business Week reports, “Both the net income and revenue figures fell slightly short of analysts’ cautious second-quarter estimates, which had taken into account heavy R&D expenditures.” And further: “Company executives lowered their expectations for the third quarter, citing the margin impact of continued investment to expand sales offerings and aggressive pricing to launch new sales categories.”

Related links:
Click here for the Business Week article
Click here to view Amazon’s results reports