Wolfe Research Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) Stock Price

Key Points

• Wolfe Research trimmed its target on Amazon to $250 (from $255) but kept an "outperform" rating, a level implying roughly a 19% upside; the analyst consensus average target is $286.84 with a "Moderate Buy" rating.
• Amazon's latest quarter featured a slight EPS miss ($1.95 vs. $1.97) but a revenue beat ($213.39B), and the stock has been trading down (around $209.87, -2.5%) below many analyst targets.
• Investors face a mixed outlook: potential long‑term upside from AWS/AI and OpenAI/AWS deals, but near‑term headwinds include possible legal action from Microsoft, USPS/shipping disruptions, heavy AI capex and a near‑record ~$54B bond sale that raise debt/margin concerns, plus recent insider selling.

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) had its target price cut by stock analysts at Wolfe Research from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,MarketScreener reports. The brokerage currently has an "outperform" rating on the e-commerce giant's stock. Wolfe Research's price objective indicates a potential upside of 19.12% from the stock's previous close.

Several other research firms have also commented on AMZN. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Amazon.com from $290.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Raymond James Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Amazon.com from $260.00 to $225.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 6th. BNP Paribas Exane began coverage on shares of Amazon.com in a report on Monday, November 24th. They issued an "outperform" rating for the company. Roth Mkm reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $295.00 price objective (up from $270.00) on shares of Amazon.com in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Finally, New Street Research reduced their target price on shares of Amazon.com from $350.00 to $285.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifty-three have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Amazon.com currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $286.84.

Amazon.com Trading Down 2.5%

Shares of NASDAQ AMZN opened at $209.87 on Thursday. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $221.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $226.32. The company has a market cap of $2.25 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.40. Amazon.com has a 52-week low of $161.38 and a 52-week high of $258.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 1.05.

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The e-commerce giant reported $1.95 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.97 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $213.39 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $211.02 billion. Amazon.com had a return on equity of 21.87% and a net margin of 10.83%.Amazon.com's quarterly revenue was up 13.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.86 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Amazon.com will post 6.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Amazon.com news, VP Shelley Reynolds sold 2,695 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $205.90, for a total value of $554,900.50. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 119,780 shares of the company's stock, valued at $24,662,702. This trade represents a 2.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP David Zapolsky sold 10,649 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $205.43, for a total value of $2,187,624.07. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 41,190 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,461,661.70. This represents a 20.54% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 71,686 shares of company stock valued at $14,688,739 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 9.70% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Amazon.com

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in AMZN. Lifelong Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its position in Amazon.com by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Lifelong Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 1,740 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock valued at $402,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Financial Connections Group Inc. boosted its position in Amazon.com by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Financial Connections Group Inc. now owns 1,633 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock valued at $376,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Marquette Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Amazon.com by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Marquette Asset Management LLC now owns 886 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock valued at $205,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Western Financial Corp CA raised its holdings in Amazon.com by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Western Financial Corp CA now owns 3,076 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock worth $710,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Navalign LLC raised its holdings in Amazon.com by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Navalign LLC now owns 13,349 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock worth $3,081,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. 72.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Amazon.com News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: AWS upside: CEO Andy Jassy said AI could double prior AWS guidance to ~$600B annual revenue over the next decade — a high‑impact long‑term growth thesis for margins and cash flow that supports the stock’s premium. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: OpenAI/AWS deal and government work: OpenAI will sell AI to U.S. agencies through AWS and OpenAI‑AWS commercial arrangements deepen Amazon’s government and enterprise addressable market. This increases AWS monetization options. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst support: Wolfe Research and other firms have recently raised price targets / reiterated Buy calls, signaling investor confidence in AWS/AI secular tailwinds. Article Title Needham Rating
• Positive Sentiment: Prime Day timing: Reported shift of Prime Day into June can pull sales into Q2, boost near‑term revenue and advertising, and help reframe the narrative vs. heavy AI spending. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Faster delivery expansion: Amazon rolled out 1‑hour and 3‑hour delivery in many U.S. cities — positive for competitiveness and GMV but potentially margin‑intensive depending on adoption and pricing. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Legal/regulatory risk: Microsoft is reportedly weighing legal action over the reported $50B Amazon–OpenAI cloud arrangement — a material execution/legal overhang for the AWS partnership thesis. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Shipping/USPS disruption: Reports that USPS walked away from talks and Amazon plans to cut USPS volume materially raise short‑term logistic rework risk and contributed to earlier downside in the stock. Contract friction can raise costs or create execution noise. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Spending and debt concerns: Amazon’s large capex plan for AI and a near‑record ~$54B bond sale have prompted analysts to revise hyperscaler debt forecasts — investors worry about near‑term margin pressure and increased leverage. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Execution risks: Reports that some internal AI productivity projects have backfired highlight execution friction that could limit near‑term efficiency gains from AI investments. Article Title

About Amazon.com

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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