A business can be losing money but remain cash-flow positive. This is what allows them to continue investing in growth. Consider a traditional bookseller, say

A business can be losing money but remain cash-flow positive. This is what allows them to continue investing in growth. Consider a traditional bookseller, say Barnes and Noble, who has to invest in physical retail, holding product (books), and training staff BEFORE they can earn any money at all. Amazon, on the other hand, takes customer money upfront as soon as they click buy. Then they can figure out their asset needs based on customer demands. Getting money upfront, Amazon can continue to invest it back into growth of the company. Presumably at some point they can "turn the switch" and lower their growth to earn more profits. But why not delay this until you're practically a monopoly? That's what will maximize shareholder value long-term. Perhaps more interesting of a question is how long shareholders are willing to wait. I suppose it doesn't matter as long as the stock price keeps rising.