Copyright 1999 The Seattle Times Company
The
Seattle Times
February 25, 1999, Thursday Final Edition
SECTION: BUSINESS; Pg. C1
LENGTH: 160 words
HEADLINE:
AMAZON STOCK JUMPS 13%
BYLINE: BLOOMBERG NEWS
BODY:
Seattle-based Amazon.com shares rose 13.3
percent today after the top online bookseller said it will enter the rapidly
growing market of selling drugs over the Internet by buying a stake in
Redmond-based drugstore.com.
The stock closed up $ 14.563 at $ 125.50.
The investment bolsters Amazon.com's strategy to transform itself into a major
retailer. Amazon.com raised $ 1.25 billion through the sale of convertible notes
last month, saying it would use the proceeds to expand into new product areas.
"The opportunities are really tremendous," said Lauren Cooks Levitan, an
analyst with BancBoston Robertson Stephens, which raised its rating on
Amazon.com to "strong buy" from "buy" because of the drugstore.com deal. "This
points to a whole new way of Amazon flexing their muscle and establishing
themselves as the dominant e-tailer."
That potential, Levitan said,
could push the company's shares toward $ 199.125, the high it hit last month.
LOAD-DATE: February 26, 1999 
