We use cookies to understand how you use our site and to improve your experience. This includes personalizing content and advertising. To learn more, click here. By continuing to use our site, you accept our use of cookies, revised Privacy Policy and Terms of Service.
You are being directed to ZacksTrade, a division of LBMZ Securities and licensed broker-dealer. ZacksTrade and Zacks.com are separate companies. The web link between the two companies is not a solicitation or offer to invest in a particular security or type of security. ZacksTrade does not endorse or adopt any particular investment strategy, any analyst opinion/rating/report or any approach to evaluating individual securities.
If you wish to go to ZacksTrade, click OK. If you do not, click Cancel.
Shares of Amazon (AMZN - Free Report) climbed on Thursday as part of a market-wide resurgence. This hardly signals that volatility is behind us. But while Amazon’s stock price is still down roughly 10% over the last month, investors should consider Amazon a strong buy at the moment.
Recent News
Amazon, which seems to move into a new industry every other week, might be ready to enter the ever-growing person-to-person payment business. The move would put Amazon in direct competition with PayPal (PYPL - Free Report) , Square (SQ - Free Report) , and even some big banks like JPMorgan Chase (JPM - Free Report) .
Another interesting Amazon-related story to consider involves its bread and butter, cloud web hosting business known as AWS. Amazon is reportedly in the running to land a major U.S. Defense Department cloud computing contract, according to the Wall Street Journal. The contract is projected to be the largest government cloud computing deal ever and could be worth billions over a decade.
The Defense Department is expected to make a deal with a single vendor. This prompted rivals such as Microsoft (MSFT - Free Report) and Oracle (ORCL - Free Report) to lobby for multiple cloud computing contracts to be awarded. The fear is that a single contract might make Amazon the front-runner based on its scale and current government contracts.
However, there are certainly no guarantees as President Donald Trump attacks Amazon on Twitter .
Top & Bottom Line Growth
Moving on from some of the most recent news about Amazon—because there is often a lot—let’s take a look at some of the company’s other fundamentals.
Amazon is expected to see its first quarter revenues soar by over 40% to reach $50.16 billion, based on our current Zacks Consensus Estimates. Amazon’s projected Q1 gains come after the company reported a 38% surge in fourth quarter sales to hit $60.5 billion.
Meanwhile, Amazon is expected to see its adjusted Q1 earnings sink by nearly 20% to hit $1.19 per share. A year-over-year earnings downturn won’t necessarily come as a major shock to many Amazon investors, as the company has been open about sacrificing earnings in order to pursue new revenue growth opportunities.
Upside
Investors should note that Amazon’s Most Accurate Estimate for earnings is currently $1.28 per share, which is 9 cents above our current consensus estimate. This positive difference means that generally speaking, estimates have been coming in higher ahead of Amazon’s first quarter earnings report.
Looking even further ahead, Amazon’s full-year 2018 earnings are expected to soar by 86.6% to $8.49 per share, with its Most Accurate Estimate coming in well above our current estimates at $9.32 per share. Furthermore, Amazon is expected to expand its EPS figure at an annualized rate of 26.8% over the next three to five years.
With all that said, Amazon is a relatively secretive company in terms of guidance. This means that the company regularly reports massive earnings surprises.
Bottom Line
Amazon is currently a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) and rocks an “A” grade for Growth in our Style Scores system. The company’s strong Zacks Rank stems mostly from the recent positive sentiment regarding Amazon’s Q1 and full-year earnings outlook.
On top of that, and despite its recent downturn, Amazon’s stock price is still up nearly 60% over the last year as investors watch the company expand its tentacles into nearly every sector of the economy.
Better still, aside from the market-induced selloff and some Trump attack concerns, Amazon’s outlook remains almost as strong as ever, which means now might be time to buy Amazon stock at what could be its lowest price for some time.
Today's Stocks from Zacks' Hottest Strategies
It's hard to believe, even for us at Zacks. But while the market gained +21.9% in 2017, our top stock-picking screens have returned +115.0%, +109.3%, +104.9%, +98.6%, and +67.1%.
And this outperformance has not just been a recent phenomenon. Over the years it has been remarkably consistent. From 2000 - 2017, the composite yearly average gain for these strategies has beaten the market more than 19X over. Maybe even more remarkable is the fact that we're willing to share their latest stocks with you without cost or obligation.
Image: Bigstock
Why Amazon (AMZN) Is a Strong Buy Stock Right Now
Shares of Amazon (AMZN - Free Report) climbed on Thursday as part of a market-wide resurgence. This hardly signals that volatility is behind us. But while Amazon’s stock price is still down roughly 10% over the last month, investors should consider Amazon a strong buy at the moment.
Recent News
Amazon, which seems to move into a new industry every other week, might be ready to enter the ever-growing person-to-person payment business. The move would put Amazon in direct competition with PayPal (PYPL - Free Report) , Square (SQ - Free Report) , and even some big banks like JPMorgan Chase (JPM - Free Report) .
Another interesting Amazon-related story to consider involves its bread and butter, cloud web hosting business known as AWS. Amazon is reportedly in the running to land a major U.S. Defense Department cloud computing contract, according to the Wall Street Journal. The contract is projected to be the largest government cloud computing deal ever and could be worth billions over a decade.
The Defense Department is expected to make a deal with a single vendor. This prompted rivals such as Microsoft (MSFT - Free Report) and Oracle (ORCL - Free Report) to lobby for multiple cloud computing contracts to be awarded. The fear is that a single contract might make Amazon the front-runner based on its scale and current government contracts.
However, there are certainly no guarantees as President Donald Trump attacks Amazon on Twitter .
Top & Bottom Line Growth
Moving on from some of the most recent news about Amazon—because there is often a lot—let’s take a look at some of the company’s other fundamentals.
Amazon is expected to see its first quarter revenues soar by over 40% to reach $50.16 billion, based on our current Zacks Consensus Estimates. Amazon’s projected Q1 gains come after the company reported a 38% surge in fourth quarter sales to hit $60.5 billion.
Meanwhile, Amazon is expected to see its adjusted Q1 earnings sink by nearly 20% to hit $1.19 per share. A year-over-year earnings downturn won’t necessarily come as a major shock to many Amazon investors, as the company has been open about sacrificing earnings in order to pursue new revenue growth opportunities.
Upside
Investors should note that Amazon’s Most Accurate Estimate for earnings is currently $1.28 per share, which is 9 cents above our current consensus estimate. This positive difference means that generally speaking, estimates have been coming in higher ahead of Amazon’s first quarter earnings report.
Looking even further ahead, Amazon’s full-year 2018 earnings are expected to soar by 86.6% to $8.49 per share, with its Most Accurate Estimate coming in well above our current estimates at $9.32 per share. Furthermore, Amazon is expected to expand its EPS figure at an annualized rate of 26.8% over the next three to five years.
With all that said, Amazon is a relatively secretive company in terms of guidance. This means that the company regularly reports massive earnings surprises.
Bottom Line
Amazon is currently a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) and rocks an “A” grade for Growth in our Style Scores system. The company’s strong Zacks Rank stems mostly from the recent positive sentiment regarding Amazon’s Q1 and full-year earnings outlook.
On top of that, and despite its recent downturn, Amazon’s stock price is still up nearly 60% over the last year as investors watch the company expand its tentacles into nearly every sector of the economy.
Better still, aside from the market-induced selloff and some Trump attack concerns, Amazon’s outlook remains almost as strong as ever, which means now might be time to buy Amazon stock at what could be its lowest price for some time.
Today's Stocks from Zacks' Hottest Strategies
It's hard to believe, even for us at Zacks. But while the market gained +21.9% in 2017, our top stock-picking screens have returned +115.0%, +109.3%, +104.9%, +98.6%, and +67.1%.
And this outperformance has not just been a recent phenomenon. Over the years it has been remarkably consistent. From 2000 - 2017, the composite yearly average gain for these strategies has beaten the market more than 19X over. Maybe even more remarkable is the fact that we're willing to share their latest stocks with you without cost or obligation.
See Them Free>>