Amazon shares drop after missing estimates

Shares of Amazon dropped after the bell after it missed Q4 analyst estimates. While Amazon had a healthy quarter of sales, promotions (such as free shipping) and price competition ate into Amazon's margins, disappointing investors and sending the stock price tumbling.

As an Amazon investor, I'm disappointed by the news but not totally surprised. The stock itself had a high premium, and with high stock prices come high expectations. Google showed what happens when expectations are exceeded, but today's report from Amazon shows just how cruel and swift the retribution can be when high expectations are not met. Today's news has effectively wiped out all gains I had made on the stock since I purchased it, giving me a second example (eBay being the first) of how waiting can be costly (I had considered selling the stock in recent weeks, but decided I wanted to hold off till later in the first half). In these cases, hesitance proved to be costly.