Amazon.com
stock was rising again on Monday, as the stock heads for its best seven-day winning streak of the year.
Amazon
stock (ticker: AMZN) was 1.2% higher Monday to $140.28, a seventh consecutive trading day in the green that has seen it rise 17%. If the stock closes at these levels, it will be the best seven-day stretch since August 2022, according to Dow Jones Market Data.
Shares of the e-commerce and cloud firm have been rising since the day after the company reported strong third-quarter earnings.
“AMZN reported a solid quarter led by strong margin improvement in both NA [North American] retail, International retail and AWS segments, with acceleration in ad revenue and 4Q guide ahead of expectations,” UBS analyst Lloyd Walmsley wrote in a research note Monday.
Walmsley raised his price target on Amazon stock to $180 from $178, and maintained his Buy rating.
Amazon posted third-quarter earnings and revenue that beat Wall Street expectations on Oct. 27, but investors have been focused on Amazon Web Services results. On the company’s earnings call, Chief Financial Officer Brian Olsavsky said that customers’ efforts to cut back on costs continues to be a headwind for AWS. However, Amazon says sales growth is picking up again.
There are also concerns about holiday shopping. Olsavsky said on the call that customers remain cautious about prices, trading down where they can, and spending less on discretionary items. Amazon also guided for fourth-quarter revenue of $160 billion to $167 billion, which was below analyst’s estimates of $167.2 billion, according to FactSet.
Regardless, Wall Street is still betting on Amazon. Of the 58 analysts surveyed by FactSet, 56 rate the stock at Buy, and two say it’s a Hold.
“With AWS reacceleration firmly on the horizon, North American operating income delivering ahead of expectations, the International business nearly back to break-even, and revenue continuing to grow at a steady double-digit clip, Amazon remains one of the best earnings-growth stories in the market heading into 2024,” wrote Deutsche Bank analyst Lee Horowitz after the company reported earnings. He rates Amazon stock at Buy with a $175 price target.
Write to Angela Palumbo at [email protected]
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