Salomon Smith Barney maintained its outperform rating on shares of Amazon.com (AMZN

).

Analyst Tim Albright says the company preannounced strong Q1 results in a tough environment, with revenues of over $695 million, at the high end of expectations. He says gross profit of $175 million is ahead of his $139 million estimate and says Amazon indicated a 2001 operating loss of about $50 million, ahead of his $84.3 million loss estimate.

Albright has increased confidence in the company's ability to break even in Q4. He says cash balances exceed his expectation; and thinks the company is on the way to countering Chapter 11 arguments.