Amazon.com, Inc. (NDAQ:AMZN) is continuing to party like it's 1999 with shares nearly tripling off of their 52-week lows ahead of their earnings report today. Shares are already up in anticipation of strong earnings after Google, Apple and RIM all reported blowout quarters.

Amazon's two previous quarters showcased blockbuster earnings growth, which has led to high expectations for this quarter leading into the holiday shopping season. Sales in the third quarter benefited from the blockbuster release of the last Harry Potter, which drew many readers to the store.

The majority of today's move, however, appears to be shorts covering before the earnings announcement. The online retailer showed 36.8 million shares sold short at the end of September and this could clearly be crippling if Amazon's earnings turn out to be along the lines of Apple or Google.

In the end, strong revenue growth coupled with improving margins as a result of lower costs and higher third-party mixes have resulted in a strong stock during  the past few months. Whether or not this success is already priced in remains to be seen, but this is definitely a stock worth following!

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