Monday Nov 25 2024 08:30
5 min
Amazon stock (NASDAQ: AMZN) has been a Wall Street darling since the company IPO’d in May 1997 at a split-adjusted price of $.07, Amazon stock trades for $198.04, which means that stock is up over 202814.96% since May 1997, turning every $1000 invested into $2.029 million today.
November 22, 2024: Amazon is expanding its partnership with Anthropic, which has designated Amazon as its primary training partner in addition to serving as its main cloud provider. The two companies will collaborate to enhance the capabilities of Trainium’s hardware and software.
November 21, 2024: Amazon is reportedly enhancing Alexa’s features through collaborations with companies like Instacart, Ticketmaster, and Uber.
November 20, 2024: Amazon plans to construct a new 750,000-square-foot facility in Fort Myers, Florida, which is expected to create around 1,000 jobs starting in 2028.
November 19, 2024: Amazon and SpaceX are engaged in a legal dispute with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). This week, attorneys from both companies presented arguments in federal court, claiming that the NLRB’s structure is unconstitutional.
November 18, 2024: Amazon has appointed Julia White as the new Chief Marketing Officer and Vice President at Amazon Web Services. White brings nearly 20 years of experience from her previous roles at Microsoft and as an executive board member and CMO at SAP.
11/15/2024- The U.S. House Select Committee met with Amazon representatives to discuss the company’s partnership with TikTok, a Chinese-owned video platform. The new partnership allows TikTok users to shop on Amazon without having to leave the app. However, lawmakers are concerned that this partnership could give China too much access to U.S. consumer data.
11/14/2024- Amazon has introduced a new mobile-only store, Amazon Haul, which is designed to appeal to shoppers seeking budget-friendly products. This new store offers a wide range of products priced under $20.
Over the past decade, Amazon's revenue surged by approximately 540%, while its net income transformed from losses to a profit of $30.42 billion in the last year. The journey, however, has not been without its challenges. For instance, in 2020, sales increased by 38%, and net income nearly doubled. The e-commerce boom continued in 2021 as consumers turned to online shopping during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the surge in sales created challenges in 2022, resulting in an unexpected loss for the company. As Amazon moves into the latter half of the decade, several key factors will influence its performance going forward.
E-Commerce Success
While the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in record sales for Amazon, it also prompted many competitors to invest heavily in online retail to challenge Amazon’s dominance. Although e-commerce still represents only 15% of total retail sales, achieving significant growth rates in online sales will be more challenging in the coming years compared to a decade ago.
Amazon Web Services
In the first quarter of 2024, Amazon Web Services (AWS) generated $25.04 billion in revenue, and the division is expected to surpass $100 billion in total sales this year. However, AWS's year-over-year growth of 13% is slower than that of competing cloud services like Microsoft’s Azure and Google Cloud. If Amazon cannot stem its market share losses, it risks falling behind Microsoft by 2030.
Advertising
As of the end of 2023, Amazon boasts a $47 billion advertising business that grew by 24% during the year. This segment has the potential to become another high-margin revenue stream for the company. Currently, most of Amazon’s profits come from its AWS cloud operations, which have propelled the company past the $100 billion mark in annual profits.
The current consensus price target for Amazon stock is $220.00, indicating an 11.09% upside from the current price of $198.04. Analysts covering Amazon generally rate the stock as a “buy,” with an average rating of 1.37.
According to 24/7 Wall Street’s 12-month forecast, Amazon's stock price is expected to reach $225. The forecast anticipates that AWS will maintain its current growth rate of 12%, while Amazon's advertising business is projected to exceed analyst expectations, particularly in the fourth quarter of 2024, due to an increase in streaming ad impressions being sold.
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Past performance is not indicative of any future results. This information is provided for informative purposes only and should not be construed to be investment advice.