Internet Stocks: Whose Got the Margins?

Holiday shopping is in full swing and the first numbers from Black Friday are astonishing low, with the first report coming out stating sales were down 11% year-over-year. While some analysts immediately discredited the number, not because of it's source but simply because of how incredulous the drop appears. Right or wrong, soon to be revised or not, let's look at the Internet Software and Services industry along ide the Internet Retailing industry and compare the two on one chart. On the x-axis we'll compare gross margin % and on the y-axis we'll chart net income (earnings) margin %. [cml_it_margins_XY1130.gif] I have highlighted some of the most widely followed stocks in red. Of greatest interest to me, and likely the rest of Wall St., will be Alibaba's first US holiday season as a public company, and of course, Amazon.com, which just today announced a new round of debt offerings and was instantly hit with an outlook downgrade to 'negative" by rating agency Moody's. Will Alibaba surprise or are the expectations and stock price just too how? Will Amazon.com finally turn a profit and surprise Wall St. with higher than expected free cash flow?