Zacks Research Upgrades Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) to “Strong-Buy”

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) was upgraded by Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

AMZN has been the subject of a number of other research reports. China Renaissance upped their price target on Amazon.com from $300.00 to $326.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $300.00 price objective on shares of Amazon.com in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating and set a $350.00 target price (up from $325.00) on shares of Amazon.com in a report on Friday, July 31st. Benchmark boosted their price objective on shares of Amazon.com from $370.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, TD Securities raised shares of Amazon.com to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifty-six have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $322.56.

Amazon.com Price Performance

AMZN stock opened at $272.65 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $246.31 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $236.97. Amazon.com has a 12-month low of $196.00 and a 12-month high of $287.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.94 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.93, a PEG ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23.

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The e-commerce giant reported $5.75 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.82 by $3.93. The firm had revenue of $200.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $197.03 billion. Amazon.com had a net margin of 17.44% and a return on equity of 18.00%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 19.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.68 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Amazon.com will post 8.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Andrew R. Jassy sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $263.42, for a total transaction of $5,268,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,205,766 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $581,042,879.72. This trade represents a 0.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, VP Shelley Reynolds sold 2,363 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $262.38, for a total transaction of $620,003.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 119,780 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,427,876.40. The trade was a 1.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 77,867 shares of company stock valued at $20,532,092. Company insiders own 8.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AMZN. Trust Asset Management LLC lifted its position 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 valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 3,414 shares during the period. MilWealth Group LLC raised its stake in Amazon.com by 79.0% during the 4th quarter. MilWealth Group LLC now owns 179 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. bought a new position in shares of Amazon.com during the 4th quarter valued at $45,000. Elkhorn Partners Limited Partnership boosted its stake in shares of Amazon.com by 900.0% in the 4th quarter. Elkhorn Partners Limited Partnership now owns 200 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Amazon.com by 95.6% in the 4th quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 221 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. 72.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

More Amazon.com News

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

• Positive Sentiment: AWS and AI demand remain the main bullish catalysts. Amazon is raising its 2026 capital-expenditure forecast to approximately $220 billion, reflecting strong demand for data-center capacity and higher memory-chip prices. AWS management has indicated that much of its capacity is committed through 2028, supporting expectations for continued cloud growth and AI-related revenue. Amazon’s 2026 Capital Expenditures
• Positive Sentiment: Zoox is approaching commercial operations. Amazon’s autonomous-vehicle unit plans to begin paid robotaxi rides in Las Vegas on August 10, following federal approval for driverless vehicles. The rollout provides a potential long-term growth avenue outside e-commerce, advertising and AWS. Zoox Paid Robotaxi Launch
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent earnings remain exceptionally strong, but reported profit included a sizable investment gain. Amazon posted $200.6 billion in quarterly revenue, up 19.6% year over year, and adjusted earnings of $5.75 per share versus a $1.82 consensus estimate. However, approximately $53.4 billion of net income came from largely non-operating gains tied to Anthropic investments, making underlying profitability more difficult to assess.
• Negative Sentiment: Spending and margin concerns are resurfacing. Higher memory costs and the $220 billion capex plan could pressure free cash flow and raise questions about the returns on Amazon’s AI infrastructure investment. The spending increase also benefited suppliers such as memory-chip and data-center equipment companies, highlighting the scale of Amazon’s costs.
• Negative Sentiment: Share-supply and analyst concerns are adding pressure. Founder Jeff Bezos plans to sell roughly 15 million AMZN shares worth about $4.1 billion under a pre-arranged plan. CEO Douglas Herrington separately sold 1,000 shares under a Rule 10b5-1 plan. Phillip Securities downgraded Amazon to “Moderate Buy,” contributing to profit-taking after the stock’s recent advance. Amazon CEO Share Sale
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory risks persist. New Jersey sued Amazon over alleged anticompetitive treatment of delivery contractors, while an appeals court allowed Perplexity’s AI shopping agents to access Amazon’s platform, potentially challenging control of the company’s marketplace.

About Amazon.com

Amazon.com, Inc is a diversified technology and retail company best known for its e-commerce marketplace and broad portfolio of consumer and enterprise services. Founded by Jeff Bezos in 1994 and headquartered in Seattle, Washington, the company launched as an online bookseller and expanded into a global retail platform that sells products directly to consumers and provides a marketplace for third-party sellers. Over time Amazon has grown beyond retail into areas including cloud computing, digital media, devices and logistics.

Key businesses and offerings include Amazon’s online marketplace and fulfillment services, the Amazon Prime membership program (which bundles expedited shipping with streaming and other benefits), Amazon Web Services (AWS) which supplies on-demand cloud computing and storage to businesses and public-sector customers, and a range of content and advertising services such as Prime Video and Amazon Advertising.