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Amazon (AMZN) Advances While Market Declines: Some Information for Investors

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Amazon (AMZN - Free Report) closed the most recent trading day at $180.97, moving +0.33% from the previous trading session. The stock's performance was ahead of the S&P 500's daily loss of 0.2%. Meanwhile, the Dow experienced a drop of 0.6%, and the technology-dominated Nasdaq saw an increase of 0.11%.

Prior to today's trading, shares of the online retailer had gained 1.21% over the past month. This has lagged the Retail-Wholesale sector's gain of 2.13% and the S&P 500's gain of 3.32% in that time.

Market participants will be closely following the financial results of Amazon in its upcoming release. The company's upcoming EPS is projected at $0.81, signifying a 161.29% increase compared to the same quarter of the previous year. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $142.42 billion, up 11.83% from the prior-year quarter.

Looking at the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $4.08 per share and revenue of $641.36 billion. These totals would mark changes of +40.69% and +11.58%, respectively, from last year.

Any recent changes to analyst estimates for Amazon should also be noted by investors. Such recent modifications usually signify the changing landscape of near-term business trends. Consequently, upward revisions in estimates express analysts' positivity towards the company's business operations and its ability to generate profits.

Our research suggests that these changes in estimates have a direct relationship with upcoming stock price performance. Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank. This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple, actionable rating system.

The Zacks Rank system, stretching from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has a noteworthy track record of outperforming, validated by third-party audits, with stocks rated #1 producing an average annual return of +25% since the year 1988. Over the last 30 days, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.46% higher. Amazon is currently a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Looking at valuation, Amazon is presently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 44.19. This indicates a premium in contrast to its industry's Forward P/E of 19.33.

Also, we should mention that AMZN has a PEG ratio of 1.57. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. The average PEG ratio for the Internet - Commerce industry stood at 0.69 at the close of the market yesterday.

The Internet - Commerce industry is part of the Retail-Wholesale sector. With its current Zacks Industry Rank of 59, this industry ranks in the top 24% of all industries, numbering over 250.

The Zacks Industry Rank assesses the vigor of our specific industry groups by computing the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks incorporated in the groups. 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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