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Amazon (AMZN) Outpaces Stock Market Gains: What You Should Know

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Amazon (AMZN - Free Report) closed the most recent trading day at $1,941.05, moving +1.81% from the previous trading session. The stock outpaced the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.54%. Elsewhere, the Dow gained 0.71%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq added 0.76%.

Prior to today's trading, shares of the online retailer had gained 1.67% over the past month. This has outpaced the Retail-Wholesale sector's gain of 0.26% and the S&P 500's gain of 1.53% in that time.

Wall Street will be looking for positivity from AMZN as it approaches its next earnings report date. This is expected to be October 25, 2018. The company is expected to report EPS of $3.25, up 525% from the prior-year quarter. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $56.92 billion, up 30.12% from the year-ago period.

For the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $17.77 per share and revenue of $234.35 billion, which would represent changes of +290.55% and +31.76%, respectively, from the prior year.

Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for AMZN. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company's business outlook.

Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank. This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple, actionable rating system.

Ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), the Zacks Rank system has a proven, outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks returning an average of +25% annually since 1988. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection has moved 0.94% higher. AMZN is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Valuation is also important, so investors should note that AMZN has a Forward P/E ratio of 107.38 right now. This represents a premium compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 28.15.

Investors should also note that AMZN has a PEG ratio of 3.98 right now. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. Internet - Commerce stocks are, on average, holding a PEG ratio of 2.09 based on yesterday's closing prices.

The Internet - Commerce industry is part of the Retail-Wholesale sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 215, putting it in the bottom 16% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank includes is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

To follow AMZN in the coming trading sessions, be sure to utilize Zacks.com.


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