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

Rosenblatt Securities upgraded shares of Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) to a strong-buy rating in a report published on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat reports.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $315.00 price objective on shares of Amazon.com in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Amazon.com from $310.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $320.00 price target (up from $315.00) on shares of Amazon.com in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Stifel Nicolaus set a $319.00 price objective on shares of Amazon.com and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Amazon.com in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifty-five have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $322.39.

Amazon.com Price Performance

NASDAQ AMZN opened at $259.92 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 1.03. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $249.46 and its 200-day moving average price is $239.21. Amazon.com has a 52-week low of $196.00 and a 52-week high of $287.20. The company has a market cap of $2.80 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.45.

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

Insider Transactions at Amazon.com

In other Amazon.com news, CEO Douglas J. Herrington sold 3,741 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $262.76, for a total transaction of $982,985.16. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 467,138 shares in the company, valued at approximately $122,745,180.88. This represents a 0.79% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 6,741 shares of company stock worth $1,767,335. Corporate insiders own 8.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Amazon.com

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in AMZN. Trust Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Amazon.com by 3.3% in the second quarter. Trust Asset Management LLC now owns 107,563 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 3,414 shares during the last quarter. Bard Associates Inc. purchased a new position in Amazon.com during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC purchased a new position in Amazon.com during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. MilWealth Group LLC lifted its stake in Amazon.com by 79.0% during the 4th quarter. MilWealth Group LLC now owns 179 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares during the period. Finally, Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. purchased a new stake in shares of Amazon.com in the 4th quarter valued at $45,000. 72.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Amazon.com News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: AI and AWS remain the main bullish catalysts: Analysts and fund filings highlighted Amazon’s positioning in artificial intelligence, including reportedly faster AWS growth, a more than $25 billion annualized AI revenue run rate and substantial cloud demand from Anthropic. Stanley Druckenmiller and Cathie Wood both increased their AMZN positions during the second quarter, while Rosenblatt initiated coverage with a “buy” rating and a $335 price target. Amazon not getting enough credit for AI positioning
• Positive Sentiment: Investments are expanding Amazon’s long-term infrastructure and delivery capabilities: Amazon plans to bring Prime Air drone delivery to nearly 500 U.S. cities by year-end and is building a multibillion-dollar robotics facility in Austin, Texas. The initiatives could improve delivery speed, automate fulfillment and support long-term cost advantages, although execution remains important. Amazon Prime Air expansion
• Positive Sentiment: Prime Video is committing $2 billion to Latin America through 2030: The spending will fund original programming, sports rights and expanded streaming distribution, creating a potential source of international advertising, subscription and engagement growth. Amazon Prime Video Latin America investment
• Neutral Sentiment: Amazon is open to discussions over its planned Quebec shutdown: Talks with Canadian and Quebec officials could alter the decision, which would otherwise eliminate about 1,700 jobs. A resolution may reduce political and reputational risk, but the financial impact is currently uncertain. Amazon Quebec shutdown discussions
• Negative Sentiment: Delivery and labor risks are increasing: A proposed New York City ordinance would prohibit Amazon and similar retailers from using subcontractors for deliveries, while UPS is reportedly phasing out most of its last-mile services for Amazon. These changes could raise logistics costs or complicate delivery capacity. New York City delivery ordinance
• Negative Sentiment: Investors are questioning the quality of recent earnings gains: A reported $53.4 billion benefit tied to the rising value of Amazon’s Anthropic investment has drawn scrutiny because it does not represent operating cash flow. Rising bond yields and a weak retail-sector backdrop have added pressure to mega-cap growth stocks. Amazon Anthropic gain scrutiny

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.