Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at Rosenblatt Securities

Key Points

• Rosenblatt Securities upgraded Amazon to “strong buy”, joining a broad analyst consensus of “buy.” The average price target is $322.39, with Rosenblatt setting a $335 target.
• Amazon shares opened at $259.92, while the company’s latest quarterly results significantly exceeded expectations: earnings per share were $5.75 versus an estimated $1.82, and revenue rose 19.6% year over year to $200.61 billion.
• Institutional investors own approximately 72.2% of Amazon, although insiders have recently sold shares, including CEO Douglas J. Herrington’s sale of 3,741 shares worth about $983,000.

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) was upgraded by analysts at Rosenblatt Securities to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note issued on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Amazon.com in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Amazon.com from $320.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Citigroup reiterated a "market outperform" rating on shares of Amazon.com in a report on Friday, August 14th. Pivotal Research reissued a "buy" rating and set a $333.00 target price (up from $320.00) on shares of Amazon.com in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of Amazon.com in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifty-five have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $322.39.

Amazon.com Stock Down 2.2%

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 company has a market capitalization of $2.80 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.45. The stock's fifty day moving average is $249.46 and its 200-day moving average is $239.21. Amazon.com has a one year low of $196.00 and a one year high of $287.20.

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN - Get Free Report) last announced 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 business had revenue of $200.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $197.03 billion. Amazon.com had a return on equity of 18.00% and a net margin of 17.44%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 19.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.68 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Amazon.com will post 8.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Amazon.com news, CEO Douglas J. Herrington sold 3,741 shares of Amazon.com stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 17th. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at $122,745,180.88. The trade was a 0.79% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders sold 6,741 shares of company stock worth $1,767,335. Company insiders own 8.90% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMZN. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in shares of Amazon.com by 10.9% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,036,091 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock worth $885,478,000 after acquiring an additional 397,007 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in Amazon.com by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 25,045 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock valued at $5,495,000 after purchasing an additional 986 shares in the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG grew its stake in Amazon.com by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 2,016,869 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock valued at $442,481,000 after purchasing an additional 54,987 shares in the last quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE increased its position in Amazon.com by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 28,975 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock worth $6,357,000 after purchasing an additional 1,518 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Liberty Square Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Amazon.com in the 4th quarter worth about $2,153,000. 72.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Headlines Impacting Amazon.com

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.

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