Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN) Stock Shrugs Off Timid PT Downgrade. It’s a Buy!
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Bad news is a rarity for Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) of late. Amazon is seemingly taking over the world unchecked, and enthusiasm over the company’s retail dominance has pushed AMZN stock more than 35% higher year-to-date, and some 1,260% higher over the past decade.
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But Deutsche Bank delivered one of those uncommon snippets of unpleasant news to Amazon shareholders today.
Specifically, analyst Lloyd Walmsley cut his price target on AMZN stock and offered a little bit of caution. Walmsley, who had a previous PT of $1,150 per share, now sees Amazon reaching $1,135, citing weak cloud checks as a near-term risk to investor sentiment.
Knock me over with a feather.
This is what qualifies as bad news for Amazon anymore — a roughly 1% price-target hike by an analyst who still has a “Buy” rating and still sees nearly 12% upside in shares. That’s likely why Amazon stock, which traded slightly lower in Tuesday’s premarket action, is now up another percent as of this writing.
Amazon’s investor base appears unshakable, even at these elevated levels. They are dedicated to this long-term growth story of Amazon, where it becomes an all-in-one retail behemoth.
Right now, it’s hard to argue.
Amazon Is Getting Better at Selling Amazon
Amazon’s takeover of the retail space has been in the spotlight for the past few months. While AMZN will never be allowed to control all aspects of retail, there’s still an enormous amount of pie left to eat before antitrust commissions and anticompetition matters really become an issue.
Amazon is transforming into a retail destination not just for cheap brands, but for all brands as well. Premium brands like Nike Inc (NYSE:NKE) are starting to directly sell on the platform, and that’s a sign of the times. Think about it. Amazon’s reach is now so great that even major brands like Nike feel like they need Amazon as a distribution channel to remain competitive.
And for Amazon, that signals penetration potential into the market of higher-end shoppers.
On the mainstream front, Prime Day was huge. Sales were up 60% year-over-year and broke numerous records. Prime Day beat Black Friday and Cyber Monday to be Amazon’s biggest sales day ever. Perhaps most importantly, the growth was really driven by Amazon’s own items, with the Alexa-enabled Echo Dot coming in as the most popular item sold.