@Atarian7 - My employer also does end-of-fiscal-year bonuses. They don't pay them out until they've had their FY-end investor calls, because they're publicly traded on NYSE, and the size of the bonus is based on company performance.
@carlsson and derFunkenstein are correct: it's not a "Christmas bonus," but a performance bonus based on individual and corporate performance. It is payed out at end of fiscal-year and after full analysis of company performance is completed.