7 Innovations From Amazon Since Its Last Quarterly Report

On the day of its Q4 earnings release, many Amazon.com, Inc. AMZN 13.71% shareholders are likely fearful of a repeat of the company’s disastrous third quarter 2014 earnings report back in October that tanked the stock 13 percent.

After all, how much could change in only three months? When it comes to Amazon, three months is an eternity. Here’s a list of seven Amazon innovations since the company’s last earnings report.

1. Amazon Echo

In November, Amazon announced the launch of Echo, a voice-activated personal assistant (and music player). The cylindrical speaker is less than 10 inches tall and connects to Wi-Fi, smartphones and tablets. Echo appears to be Amazon’s take on Apple Inc AAPL 1.46%‘s Siri.

2. Amazon Elements

In early December, Amazon announced the launch of Elements, the company’s new line of household items that will be available to Prime members only.

Elements includes items such as diapers ($7.49 per package) and baby wipes ($10.99 for a pack of six).

3. WorkMail

Just this week, Amazon announced the launch of WorkMail, an email and scheduling service that will take on the likes of Google Inc GOOG 4.67% GOOGL 4.74% and Microsoft Corporation MSFT 3.83%. The launch is part of Amazon’s effort to lure more companies to use the company’s cloud computing services.

4. Amazon Travel

In November, Amazon announced the planned launch of Amazon Travel, an independent hotel and resort booking service. The launch will initially cover hotels in only a handful of major cities, but could eventually compete with services offered by Priceline Group Inc PCLN 0.52% and Expedia Inc EXPE 0.74%.

5. Amazon Services

Amazon Services, a platform to connect customers to trusted, local service providers such as technicians and handymen, made its debut in November. Amazon is hoping Services could grow to compete with Yelp Inc YELP 0.87% and Angie’s List Inc ANGI 2.34%.

6. Prime Now

Amazon debuted its highly-publicized Prime Now one-hour delivery service in Manhattan in December. Amazon will likely expand the service to other locations if the New York City experiment goes well.

7. Fire TV Stick

Amazon launched its Fire TV Stick, $39 alternative to Google’s Chromecast, almost immediately following the company’s last earnings report in October.

TV viewers have likely seen Amazon’s commercials for the Fire Stick starring the eccentric Gary Busey.

Read this article and all my other articles for free on Benzinga by clicking here

Want to learn more about the stock market? Or maybe you just want to be able to look sophisticated in front of your coworkers when they ask you what you are reading on your Kindle, and you’d prefer to tell them “Oh, I’m just reading a book about stock market analysis,” rather than the usual “Oh, I’m just looking at pics of my ex-girlfriend on Facebook.” For these reasons and more, check out my book, Beating Wall Street with Common SenseI don’t have a degree in finance; I have a degree in neuroscience. You don’t have to predict what stocks will do if you can predict what traders will do and be one step ahead of them. I made a 400% return in the stock market over five years using only basic principles of psychology and common sense. Beating Wall Street with Common Sense is now available on Amazon, and tradingcommonsense.com is always available on your local internet!