Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) Shares Down 4.6% – What’s Next?
by Doug Wharley · The Cerbat GemShares of Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN – Get Free Report) traded down 4.6% during trading on Thursday. The stock traded as low as $248.00 and last traded at $250.38. Approximately 48,253,163 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 5% from the average daily volume of 46,172,777 shares. The stock had previously closed at $262.37.
Amazon.com News Summary
Here are the key news stories impacting Amazon.com this week:
- Positive Sentiment: AWS growth has reportedly accelerated to its fastest pace in 18 quarters, while Amazon’s custom Trainium chips are being opened to PyTorch developers. Analysts see cloud demand, AI infrastructure, advertising, and retail operating leverage as potential catalysts. Amazon custom AI silicon article
- Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley named Amazon a top pick and raised its price target to $350 from $335, citing potential upside from AWS, improving retail margins, and operating leverage. Citadel also increased its Amazon stake by 34%, suggesting institutional confidence despite concerns about an AI bubble. Citadel and AI bubble article
- Positive Sentiment: Amazon is gaining share in fresh groceries, and Jefferies believes warehouse automation and the company’s expanding logistics network could support long-term retail margin improvement by reducing labor and delivery costs. Amazon grocery market-share article
- Neutral Sentiment: Amazon will report third-quarter results next week. Investors are likely to focus on AWS growth, the return on investment from AI spending, capital-expenditure guidance, free cash flow, and fourth-quarter expectations. Amazon earnings preview
- Negative Sentiment: Amazon is reportedly spending roughly $200 billion to $220 billion on capital projects this year, while free cash flow has turned sharply negative. Some Nvidia AI servers are allegedly waiting for electricity, raising concerns that infrastructure spending may precede usable capacity and revenue.
- Negative Sentiment: Citadel founder Ken Griffin warned that AI is “almost certainly” in a bubble. Although his fund increased its Amazon position, the comments highlight valuation and return-on-investment risks across AI-linked companies. AI bubble and Citadel holdings article
- Negative Sentiment: Competitive and regulatory risks are also building: Walmart is welcoming AI shopping agents while Amazon has restricted them, Teamsters are seeking delivery-worker protections, and a proposed Senate bill could limit subsidies for large AI-focused data centers.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
Several research firms recently commented on AMZN. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $375.00 target price (up from $335.00) on shares of Amazon.com in a research note on Friday, July 31st. HSBC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $310.00 target price on shares of Amazon.com in a research report on Friday, July 31st. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $350.00 target price on shares of Amazon.com in a report on Monday, October 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $320.00 price objective (up from $315.00) on shares of Amazon.com in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Benchmark boosted their target price on Amazon.com from $370.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Fifty-seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $322.53.
Read Our Latest Analysis on AMZN
Amazon.com Trading Down 4.6%
The firm has a market cap of $2.70 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The business has a 50 day moving average of $255.85 and a 200 day moving average of $253.33.
Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The e-commerce giant reported $5.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.82 by $3.93. Amazon.com had a net margin of 17.44% and a return on equity of 18.00%. The business had revenue of $200.61 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $197.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.68 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 19.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Amazon.com, Inc. will post 8.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Insider Buying and Selling
In other news, CEO Douglas Herrington sold 6,362 shares of Amazon.com stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $259.01, for a total value of $1,647,821.62. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 476,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $123,465,145.81. The trade was a 1.32% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Brian Olsavsky sold 6,172 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.31, for a total transaction of $1,606,633.32. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 109,207 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,427,674.17. This represents a 5.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 71,589 shares of company stock worth $18,580,515. Corporate insiders own 8.90% of the company’s stock.
Institutional Trading of Amazon.com
Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Red Crane Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Amazon.com by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Red Crane Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,663 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock worth $346,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Stegent Equity Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Amazon.com by 2.7% in the third quarter. Stegent Equity Advisors Inc. now owns 1,462 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock valued at $364,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the period. Robinson Smith Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Amazon.com by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Robinson Smith Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,509 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock worth $1,147,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Sfam LLC increased its holdings in shares of Amazon.com by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. Sfam LLC now owns 1,224 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock worth $255,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the period. Finally, Measured Risk Portfolios Inc. boosted its position in shares of Amazon.com by 3.4% during the first quarter. Measured Risk Portfolios Inc. now owns 1,206 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock worth $251,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the period. 72.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
About Amazon.com
Amazon.com, Inc is a global technology and e-commerce company founded by Jeff Bezos in 1994. Originally launched as an online bookstore, the company has expanded into a broad digital marketplace offering consumer products across numerous categories, including electronics, household goods, apparel, groceries and other merchandise. Amazon also sells products under its own brands and provides logistics, fulfillment and delivery services that support its retail operations and third-party sellers.
The company’s principal businesses include online and physical retail, Amazon Web Services (AWS), digital advertising, subscription services and consumer technology.