Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) Stock Price Up 2.1% – Still a Buy?

Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) shot up 2.1% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $252.73 and last traded at $251.19. 29,622,462 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 37% from the average session volume of 47,330,684 shares. The stock had previously closed at $245.96.

Trending Headlines about Amazon.com

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

• Positive Sentiment: Amazon agreed to purchase up to $8 billion of backup generators from Generac, including approximately $2.4 billion of deliveries in 2027–2028. The deal should help Amazon bring AWS data centers online despite grid-connection delays and power shortages, while Amazon receives warrants to purchase Generac shares. Generac Plugs into Amazon for an $8B AI-Powered Deal
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and investors continue to point to accelerating AWS demand, with reports citing a $169 billion annualized revenue run rate and a large cloud backlog. That supports expectations that AI-related infrastructure spending can translate into future sales, despite near-term cash-flow pressure. Amazon’s Andy Jassy Just Made a Startling Prediction
• Positive Sentiment: Project Mercury aims to expand Amazon’s same-day delivery network to more than 1,000 hubs by 2031. Bank of America called the initiative strategically important as Amazon attempts to narrow Walmart’s proximity and convenience advantage. Amazon’s secret weapon against Walmart could be a massive blitz in same-day delivery
• Positive Sentiment: AWS made its AI-powered hiring product, Amazon Connect Talent, generally available, expanding Amazon’s enterprise AI offerings beyond cloud infrastructure. Amazon has also received favorable attention from UBS analysts among top technology stock picks.
• Neutral Sentiment: Amazon is promoting industry and government cooperation on AI safety standards, emphasizing testing before release without calling for a broader slowdown in development. The stance may improve trust but is unlikely to materially change near-term results. Amazon Urges Industry and Government Partnership on AI Safeguards
• Negative Sentiment: Amazon faces European Commission scrutiny over marketplace rules that may restrict sellers from offering lower prices elsewhere, creating potential regulatory and compliance costs.
• Negative Sentiment: Investors remain concerned that roughly $220 billion of planned 2026 capital expenditures could keep free cash flow negative. Higher wages, delivery costs and possible electricity-grid charges for data centers add to the spending burden.
• Negative Sentiment: U.S. senators have urged the FTC to investigate Amazon’s AI shopping tools over alleged suppression of U.S.-made products and misleading “Made in USA” labels. The company also continues to face reputational and legal attention related to its Prime settlement.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AMZN has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup restated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Amazon.com in a report on Friday, August 14th. Pivotal Research restated a “buy” rating and set a $333.00 price target (up from $320.00) on shares of Amazon.com in a research note on Friday, July 31st. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Amazon.com in a research report on Friday, July 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $375.00 target price (up from $335.00) on shares of Amazon.com in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $360.00 price objective (up from $355.00) on shares of Amazon.com in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Fifty-six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $321.19.

Amazon.com Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The firm has a market cap of $2.74 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.44. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $256.09 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $245.60.

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The e-commerce giant reported $5.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.82 by $3.93. Amazon.com had a return on equity of 18.00% and a net margin of 17.44%.The company had revenue of $200.61 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $197.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.68 earnings per share. Amazon.com’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Amazon.com, Inc. will post 8.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Douglas J. Herrington sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $254.77, for a total transaction of $254,770.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 475,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $121,189,248.37. This represents a 0.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP David Zapolsky sold 9,258 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $259.77, for a total transaction of $2,404,950.66. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 41,190 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,699,926.30. This represents a 18.35% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 71,589 shares of company stock worth $18,568,785 in the last quarter. 8.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Amazon.com

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMZN. Trust Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Amazon.com by 3.3% during the second quarter. Trust Asset Management LLC now owns 107,563 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 3,414 shares during the period. TOP Private Wealth LLC. purchased a new stake in shares of Amazon.com in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Bard Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Amazon.com in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Amazon.com during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, MilWealth Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Amazon.com by 79.0% during the 4th quarter. MilWealth Group LLC now owns 179 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.20% of the company’s stock.

About Amazon.com

Amazon.com, Inc is a global technology and e-commerce company that operates online marketplaces and provides a broad range of consumer products and services. Its retail business sells merchandise directly to customers and enables third-party sellers to offer products through Amazon’s websites and applications. The company also operates physical stores and provides services such as digital content, subscriptions, and consumer devices, including Kindle and Echo products.

Amazon Web Services (AWS) provides cloud computing, storage, database, analytics, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and other technology services to businesses, governments, and organizations.