At that level, he said, the North American edition would turn profitable for the first time.

I feared that this business was turning less and less profitable.

"For them to turn profitable, they need to turn things around pretty quickly."

Analysts said the reinsurance market might not turn profitable for a year.

"They claim to be losing less and say this year or next will turn profitable for them."

According to their own website, as of 2009, CafeMom.com has turned profitable.

It said local-calling service could have turned profitable if the company became more efficient.

Switchboard turned profitable in the second quarter, he said, and "the stock took off as people saw that the business model really worked."

He said he was confident the business would turn profitable, in part because its cost structure may be lower than Amazon.com's.

The company turned profitable in 1984, and all left Tektronix by 1985.