''We're used to growing three or four times as fast as the industry but for this quarter we'll probably only have grown twice as fast,'' Byrne said. ''Twice as fast is good enough for some people, but I'm a little disappointed.''

The Salt Lake City-based company missed its profitability target by a percent or two, he said in an interview published Friday.

Overstock shares closed Friday at $33.64, down $1.19 or 3.4 percent.

In comments that ranged from the demographics of Internet shoppers to sarcastic predictions that enemies would frame him with drugs, Byrne said the company would be close to breaking even this year. Overstock has posted an annual loss every year since going public in 2002.

''It's going to be close one,'' said Byrne. ''We won't lose very much money if we lose money. If we make money, it won't be very much. It's within a percentage of break-even.''

The company is expected to earn 14 cents a share for the quarter, according to the average estimate of 12 analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial and lose 30 cents for the year, according to the average estimate of five analysts.

Byrne said holiday retail sales in the U.S. rose about 30 percent, higher than forecasts. U.S. retail sales online are expected to rise 24 percent in November and December this year, according to ComScore Networks Inc.

Byrne also criticized short sellers of the company's stock, including Mark Cuban, who Byrne said may ''come after'' him.

Cuban, who became a billionaire in 1999 after Yahoo! Inc. bought the company he co-founded, said in October he is shorting, or betting against, Overstock.com.

Byrne previously characterized efforts to push his shares down as being orchestrated by a ''Sith Lord,'' a reference to the arch villains in the Star Wars films.

''Cuban's friends, what they're going to do is come after me in January,'' said Byrne. ''They're trying to get the SEC to launch an investigation. I think they're going to try to get the DOJ to investigate me,'' Byrne said, referring to the Securities and Exchange Commission and the U.S. Department of Justice.

''Some of the people I'm up against are mobsters,'' he said. ''I fully expect you're going to hear about the police stopping me with a pound of heroin, or a dead body, or something in my trunk.''

Cuban did not respond to an request for comment.

Overstock.com in August filed a lawsuit against Gradient Analytics Inc., hedge fund Rocker Partners and owner David Rocker, alleging the two companies conspired to issue research aimed at pushing down Overstock.com's shares.