The Week's Winners and Losers: Amazon, lululemon, Pitney Bowes, Nintendo and Netflix

From a high-end apparel retailer making a down-market move to the leading video service adding to its growing library, here are the wonders and blunders of the week.

Amazon.com (AMZN) -- Winner

Apple (AAPL) may have hit the market with the new iPad Air on Friday, but it was Amazon making the most of the launch -- to promote its own platform. Amazon has spent most of the week pushing its new 8.9-inch Kindle Fire HDX tablet at the top of the popular e-tailer's home page, pitting it against the iPad Air.

Amazon points out that its Kindle Fire HDX is 20 percent lighter, packs 950,000 more pixels, and will set shoppers back $120 less than the somewhat comparable iPad Air. You have to admire Amazon's moxie here. Apple just moved more than 14 million iPads in its latest quarter -- and that was the older models during a non-holiday quarter. Amazon's willing to butt heads with the top brand in tablets, and it's doing it on a site that it knows will be getting very busy in the coming weeks as holiday shoppers begin to research the best tablet to buy this season.

Well played, Amazon.

lululemon ahtletica (LULU) -- Blunder

When it comes to selling high-end yoga clothing, no one does it as well as lululemon athletica. Sure, there was that embarrassing episode earlier this year where its black Luon yoga pants were too sheer, resulting in the departure of its head of merchandising.

However, how do you justify filling that opening by bringing in Kmart's head of apparel to be your new chief products officer? Kmart has struggled with years of declining comps, and it's a lackluster discount department store chain. Even if she was more than qualified for the gig, investor -- and more dangerously customer -- perceptions may mark down lululemon's image.

Pitney Bowes (PBI) -- Winner

Metered mail may be a fading industry, but that didn't stop Pitney Bowes from hitting a fresh 52-week high this week after posting encouraging quarterly results.

%VIRTUAL-article-sponsoredlinks%The key here is that Pitney Bowes has evolved from being merely a provider of metered mail in an era when folks just aren't mailing physical letters the way that they used to. Pitney Bowes has beefed up its digital commerce solutions business. That's actually growing, helping offset the logical decline on the mail front.

The bottom line is that Pitney Bowes' bottom line trounced expectations.

Nintendo (NTDOY) -- Blunder

Nintendo used to be the video game industry's tastemaker, but these days it seems to be on the outside looking in. It posted its third consecutive quarterly loss this week, and it has only sold 450,000 Wii U consoles through the first six months of its fiscal year.

Things won't get any easier this month as the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 hit the market. Nintendo is holding up better with its handheld platform, but it's hard to win a game if you keep reporting losses.

Netflix (NFLX) -- Winner

Showtime's "Dexter" recently concluded its eight-season run, and now it's returning to Netflix's widening digital vault.

Netflix and Showtime parent CBS (CBS) struck a deal to get the entire serialized drama on the popular video service that now has more than 40 million subscribers worldwide. The first four seasons became available on Thursday, and the final four seasons will be accessible in two months.

Netflix and its $7.99 monthly plan continues to be one of the best deals in video, and the catalog keeps getting bigger.

Motley Fool contributor Rick Munarriz owns shares of Netflix. The Motley Fool recommends Amazon.com, Apple, Lululemon Athletica, and Netflix. The Motley Fool owns shares of Amazon.com, Apple, and Netflix. Try any of our newsletter services free for 30 days.