Amazon. Earth’s Biggest Bookstore Disappointment

Are online sales largely recession-resistant? Not according to Amazon’s latest earnings. Though its third-quarter profit rose 48 percent from the same period last year on revenues of $4.26 billion, the Internet retailer lowered its full-year sales outlook.

By $1 billion.

Earlier this year, Amazon (AMZN) projected $7.2 billion revenue for its fourth quarter, which includes the all important holiday shopping season. Today, it said it expects revenue for that quarter to fall somewhere between $6 billion and $7 billion.

Uh-oh.

“The holidays are not going to be pretty,” said Soleil Securities analyst Scott Tilghman. “Amazon.com isn’t immune to the economic downturn.”