Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) Shares Up 1.5% – Should You Buy?

Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN)’s stock price shot up 1.5% during trading on Tuesday. The company traded as high as $272.88 and last traded at $270.87. 38,082,410 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 18% from the average session volume of 46,720,207 shares. The stock had previously closed at $266.93.

Key Stories Impacting Amazon.com

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

• Positive Sentiment: Potential Anthropic investment gains: Amazon is one of Anthropic’s largest investors. A possible IPO at a reported valuation of up to $1.1 trillion could significantly increase the value of Amazon’s stake, although the eventual valuation and proceeds are uncertain. Amazon and Google Will See Big Paydays from Anthropic IPO
• Positive Sentiment: AWS momentum supports the growth outlook: AWS grew 39.3% in the latest quarter, its fastest pace in nearly five years, and has a $578 billion backlog. Investors may see this demand as support for Amazon’s substantial AI and cloud investments. Andy Jassy Just Delivered Great News for Amazon Stock Investors
• Positive Sentiment: New initiatives extend Amazon’s reach: UK aviation approval allows Amazon to expand drone deliveries in Darlington to about 8,000 customers. Ring also unveiled a flying home-security camera and an autonomous security robot, adding potential products and services beyond retail. UK aviation regulator clears Amazon for expanded drone delivery Amazon’s Ring launches flying camera, autonomous security robot
• Neutral Sentiment: Holiday promotions are set: Amazon’s Black Friday Week and Cyber Monday events will run November 19–30. The promotions could support seasonal sales, but discounting may also affect margins. Amazon’s Black Friday Week and Cyber Monday Return November 19-30
• Negative Sentiment: Spending and legal costs temper the outlook: Amazon’s large AI infrastructure spending plan could pressure cash flow before returns materialize. Separately, the company agreed to pay $3 million to Arizona Prime members to resolve allegations about its cancellation process. Amazon agrees to pay $3M to Arizona Prime members

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on AMZN shares. Wedbush dropped their target price on Amazon.com from $310.00 to $298.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their price objective on Amazon.com from $310.00 to $280.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 30th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $340.00 price objective (down from $350.00) on shares of Amazon.com in a research report on Friday, October 30th. Truist Financial set a $390.00 target price on Amazon.com in a research note on Friday, October 30th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Amazon.com from $330.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifty-five have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Amazon.com currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $321.74.

Amazon.com Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The company has a market cap of $2.93 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 1.49. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $253.97 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $243.74.

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 29th. The e-commerce giant reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.97 by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $201.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $202.22 billion. Amazon.com had a return on equity of 15.72% and a net margin of 16.90%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.95 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Amazon.com, Inc. will post 7.80 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Amazon.com news, CEO Douglas J. Herrington sold 6,362 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $259.01, for a total transaction of $1,647,821.62. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 476,681 shares in the company, valued at approximately $123,465,145.81. The trade was a 1.32% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Matthew Garman sold 14,541 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $259.06, for a total value of $3,766,991.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 17,794 shares in the company, valued at $4,609,713.64. This represents a 44.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 71,589 shares of company stock worth $18,545,595 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 8.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Amazon.com

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in shares of Amazon.com in the 2nd quarter valued at about $22,218,775,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in Amazon.com during the second quarter worth about $16,341,405,000. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new position in Amazon.com during the second quarter valued at approximately $12,831,376,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Amazon.com during the second quarter valued at approximately $6,631,466,000. Finally, Jupiter Topco LLC acquired a new position in Amazon.com in the second quarter valued at approximately $5,910,083,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.20% of the company’s stock.

Amazon.com Company Profile

Amazon.com, Inc. is a technology and e-commerce company founded by Jeff Bezos in 1994 as an online bookstore. It has since grown into a global business serving consumers, sellers, developers, enterprises and content creators. Amazon operates online stores and marketplaces, where it sells products directly and enables third-party sellers to reach customers. Its other businesses include Amazon Web Services, which provides cloud computing and related services; digital advertising; Prime memberships; and entertainment offerings such as streaming video and music.