Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) Upgraded to “Strong-Buy” at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating and issued a $350.00 price target (up from $340.00) on shares of Amazon.com in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $365.00 target price (up from $330.00) on shares of Amazon.com in a report on Friday, July 31st. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their price target on shares of Amazon.com from $315.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. UBS Group set a $318.00 price objective on Amazon.com and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Amazon.com in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifty-six have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Amazon.com presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $322.56.

Amazon.com Trading Down 1.7%

Shares of AMZN opened at $272.65 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $2.94 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.87. Amazon.com has a 1 year low of $196.00 and a 1 year high of $287.20. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $246.31 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $236.97.

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The e-commerce giant reported $5.75 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.82 by $3.93. The company had revenue of $200.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $197.03 billion. Amazon.com had a net margin of 17.44% and a return on equity of 18.00%. Amazon.com’s quarterly revenue was up 19.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.68 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Amazon.com will post 8.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Amazon.com

In other news, VP Shelley Reynolds sold 2,363 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $262.38, for a total transaction of $620,003.94. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 119,780 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,427,876.40. This trade represents a 1.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Andrew R. Jassy sold 20,000 shares of Amazon.com stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $263.42, for a total value of $5,268,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,205,766 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $581,042,879.72. The trade was a 0.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 77,867 shares of company stock worth $20,532,092. Insiders own 8.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Amazon.com

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AMZN. Red Crane Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Amazon.com by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Red Crane Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,663 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock worth $346,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Robinson Smith Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Amazon.com by 0.7% during the first quarter. Robinson Smith Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,509 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock worth $1,147,000 after buying an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Sfam LLC grew its holdings in shares of Amazon.com by 3.4% during the 1st quarter. Sfam LLC now owns 1,224 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock worth $255,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Measured Risk Portfolios Inc. increased its holdings in Amazon.com by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. Measured Risk Portfolios Inc. now owns 1,206 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock valued at $251,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the period. Finally, CoreFirst Bank & Trust raised its position in Amazon.com by 1.1% during the first quarter. CoreFirst Bank & Trust now owns 3,620 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock valued at $754,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.20% of the company’s stock.

Amazon.com News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Amazon.com this week:

• Positive Sentiment: AWS and AI demand remain the main bullish catalysts. Amazon is raising its 2026 capital-expenditure forecast to approximately $220 billion, reflecting strong demand for data-center capacity and higher memory-chip prices. AWS management has indicated that much of its capacity is committed through 2028, supporting expectations for continued cloud growth and AI-related revenue. Amazon’s 2026 Capital Expenditures
• Positive Sentiment: Zoox is approaching commercial operations. Amazon’s autonomous-vehicle unit plans to begin paid robotaxi rides in Las Vegas on August 10, following federal approval for driverless vehicles. The rollout provides a potential long-term growth avenue outside e-commerce, advertising and AWS. Zoox Paid Robotaxi Launch
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent earnings remain exceptionally strong, but reported profit included a sizable investment gain. Amazon posted $200.6 billion in quarterly revenue, up 19.6% year over year, and adjusted earnings of $5.75 per share versus a $1.82 consensus estimate. However, approximately $53.4 billion of net income came from largely non-operating gains tied to Anthropic investments, making underlying profitability more difficult to assess.
• Negative Sentiment: Spending and margin concerns are resurfacing. Higher memory costs and the $220 billion capex plan could pressure free cash flow and raise questions about the returns on Amazon’s AI infrastructure investment. The spending increase also benefited suppliers such as memory-chip and data-center equipment companies, highlighting the scale of Amazon’s costs.
• Negative Sentiment: Share-supply and analyst concerns are adding pressure. Founder Jeff Bezos plans to sell roughly 15 million AMZN shares worth about $4.1 billion under a pre-arranged plan. CEO Douglas Herrington separately sold 1,000 shares under a Rule 10b5-1 plan. Phillip Securities downgraded Amazon to “Moderate Buy,” contributing to profit-taking after the stock’s recent advance. Amazon CEO Share Sale
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory risks persist. New Jersey sued Amazon over alleged anticompetitive treatment of delivery contractors, while an appeals court allowed Perplexity’s AI shopping agents to access Amazon’s platform, potentially challenging control of the company’s marketplace.

Amazon.com Company Profile

Amazon.com, Inc is a diversified technology and retail company best known for its e-commerce marketplace and broad portfolio of consumer and enterprise services. Founded by Jeff Bezos in 1994 and headquartered in Seattle, Washington, the company launched as an online bookseller and expanded into a global retail platform that sells products directly to consumers and provides a marketplace for third-party sellers. Over time Amazon has grown beyond retail into areas including cloud computing, digital media, devices and logistics.

Key businesses and offerings include Amazon’s online marketplace and fulfillment services, the Amazon Prime membership program (which bundles expedited shipping with streaming and other benefits), Amazon Web Services (AWS) which supplies on-demand cloud computing and storage to businesses and public-sector customers, and a range of content and advertising services such as Prime Video and Amazon Advertising.