Amazon Could Get a Boost from Hurricane Sandy

By Trey Thoelcke Published Oct 31, 6:50AM EDT

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Which industries benefited from Hurricane Sandy? Very few, one has to suppose. But among those must be e-commerce, which means another victory for Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN), even if it was not entirely earned.

With almost every major store, and all the minor ones, closed across much of the Mid-Atlantic, New York and New England, early shoppers were forced to turn online. Just as some people have voted early in the national election, past retail activity demonstrates that some consumers do not wait until mid-November or later to buy gifts. These people are either very organized or worried that some popular items will be sold out later in the year.

Amazon shares suffered when it reported worse-than-expected earnings last quarter. And some analysts worry that the current quarter will be soft. The stock is off to $238 from a 52-week high of $264. Amazon’s e-commerce advantage almost certainly shined during the storm and will for the days or weeks of clean-up to come. And its results for the holiday quarter will get a boost.

Douglas A. McIntyre

About the Author Trey Thoelcke →

Trey has been an editor and author at 24/7 Wall St. for more than a decade, where he has published thousands of articles analyzing corporate earnings, dividend stocks, short interest, insider buying, private equity, and market trends. His comprehensive coverage spans the full spectrum of financial markets, from blue-chip stalwarts to emerging growth companies.

Beyond 24/7 Wall St., Trey has created and edited financial content for Benzinga and AOL's BloggingStocks, contributing additional hundreds of articles to the investment community. He previously oversaw the 24/7 Climate Insights site, managing editorial operations and content strategy, and currently oversees and creates content for My Investing News.

Trey's editorial expertise extends across multiple publishing environments. He served as production editor at Dearborn Financial Publishing and development editor at Kaplan, where he helped shape financial education materials. Earlier in his career, he worked as a writer-producer at SVE. His freelance editing portfolio includes work for prestigious clients such as Sage Publications, Rand McNally, the Institute for Supply Management, the American Library Association, Eggplant Literary Productions, and Spiegel.

Outside of financial journalism, Trey writes fiction and has been an active member of the writing community for years, overseeing a long-running critique group and moderating workshop sessions at regional conventions. He lives with his family in an old house in the Midwest.