Amazon.com chief financial officer Mr Warren Jenson said today the online retailer was well positioned to meet its goal for profits, excluding certain items, in the fourth quarter.
But he cautioned that the economy was unpredictable.
"We are well positioned, but there's a big part of the equation I can't describe to you and that's what the top line is going to look like, what consumer demand is going to be into the fourth quarter," he said in an interview following an investment conference today.
"I'm not either confirming or backing off," he said in response to a question about the goal to be profitable in the fourth quarter. "Everybody's been dealt a big wild card. We're going to have to watch the economy very, very carefully".
He said the company's sales had been hurt initially after the September 11th attacks. "We started the quarter kind of like what we expected to do, then the week of September 10th, the orders fell off".
"But they've rebounded at or above, near where we were trending before. But from here forward, it is impossible for us to be able to gauge anything." Mr Jenson said.
