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Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN), boasting a stellar market cap of $2 trillion, operates in the e-commerce, cloud computing, and artificial intelligence sectors. Based in Seattle, Washington, it engages in retail, subscriptions, AWS, and electronic device manufacturing. Amazon is set to announce its fiscal Q3 earnings results on Thursday, Oct. 24.
Ahead of the event, analysts expect AMZN to report a profit of $1.14 per share, up 34.1% from $0.85 per share in the year-ago quarter. The company has consistently surpassed Wall Street’s EPS estimates in its last four quarterly reports.
Amazon's adjusted earnings of $1.23 per share for the last quarter surpassed the consensus estimate by 17.1%, thanks to its strong performance in AWS, with solid momentum in its North America, International, and advertising segments.
For fiscal 2024, analysts expect Amazon to report an EPS of $4.85, up 70.8% from $2.84 in fiscal 2023.
AMZN stock has gained 43.2% over the past year, outperforming the broader S&P 500 Index's ($SPX) 32.9% gains and the Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR Fund's (XLY) 20.5% returns over the same time frame.
Amazon’s solid market performance can be credited to its ever-growing e-commerce segment, which captures around 38% of the market share in the U.S. Moreover, its investments in generative AI are expected to boost cloud customer engagement while Amazon's global presence, expanding Prime, and focus on small and medium businesses are set to enhance future financial performance.
AMZN gained over 1% on Oct. 8, contributing to a broader rally in mega-cap technology stocks that supported overall market gains.
However, the stock closed down more than 3% on Oct. 7 after Wells Fargo Securities downgraded the stock to “Equal-Weight” from “Overweight.”
The consensus opinion on AMZN stock is very bullish, with an overall “Strong Buy” rating. Of the 48 analysts covering the stock, 44 advise a “Strong Buy” rating, three recommend a “Moderate Buy,” and the remaining one analyst suggests a “Hold.” This configuration is slightly more bullish than a month ago when the stock had 43 “Strong Buy” ratings.
AMZN’s average analyst price target is $225.22, indicating a potential upside of 19.3% from the current price levels.
On the date of publication, Kritika Sarmah did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. For more information please view the Barchart Disclosure Policy here.
