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Amazon (AMZN) Ascends But Remains Behind Market: Some Facts to Note

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Amazon (AMZN - Free Report) closed at $241.35 in the latest trading session, marking a +1.41% move from the prior day. The stock lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 1.75%. Elsewhere, the Dow gained 1.86%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq added 2.54%.

Coming into today, shares of the online retailer had lost 11.89% in the past month. In that same time, the Retail-Wholesale sector lost 7.51%, while the S&P 500 lost 1.63%.

The investment community will be paying close attention to the earnings performance of Amazon in its upcoming release. The company is predicted to post an EPS of $1.82, indicating a 8.33% growth compared to the equivalent quarter last year. Meanwhile, the latest consensus estimate predicts the revenue to be $196.87 billion, indicating a 17.39% increase compared to the same quarter of the previous year.

AMZN's full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $8.85 per share and revenue of $824.39 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of +23.43% and +14.99%, respectively.

Investors should also take note of any recent adjustments to analyst estimates for Amazon. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. Consequently, upward revisions in estimates express analysts' positivity towards the business operations and its ability to generate profits.

Empirical research indicates that these revisions in estimates have a direct correlation with impending stock price performance. To capitalize on this, we've crafted the Zacks Rank, a unique model that incorporates these estimate changes and offers a practical 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 witnessed an unchanged state. As of now, Amazon holds a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

Looking at its valuation, Amazon is holding a Forward P/E ratio of 26.91. This represents a premium compared to its industry average Forward P/E of 16.22.

One should further note that AMZN currently holds a PEG ratio of 1.55. Comparable to the widely accepted P/E ratio, the PEG ratio also accounts for the company's projected earnings growth. AMZN's industry had an average PEG ratio of 0.96 as of yesterday's close.

The Internet - Commerce industry is part of the Retail-Wholesale sector. With its current Zacks Industry Rank of 148, this industry ranks in the bottom 40% of all industries, numbering over 250.

The Zacks Industry Rank is ordered 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.

Be sure to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and many more, on Zacks.com.

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