24/7 Wall St. Key Points:
- Amazon is facing substantial headwinds this year, but the stock remains fundamentally sound with a “Strong Buy” rating.
- AWS, AI and ad sales continue to be major drivers for the Magnificent Seven stock.
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Shares ofAmazon.com Inc.(NASDAQ:AMZN)lost 0.15% over the past five trading sessions after losing 1.42% the five prior. The stock continues to struggle in the aftermath of tech’s early August sell-off that saw AMZN fall by nearly 10% in one day, and more recently, the Friday, Oct. 10 sell-off that sent the stock down by nearly 5%. The e-commerce and cloud storage solutions giant finds itself in the red this year with a year-to-date loss of 0.01%. Over the past year, Amazon is up 17.42%.
In August, the company announced it will begin offering customers same-day grocery delivery. On July 8, it was reported that Amazon founder Jeff Bezos sold nearly 3 million shares worth $665.8 million over two days in July as part of a plan announced earlier in 2025 that will see Bezos unload up to 25 million shares through May 2026. In other company news, the firm announced in July that it deployed its 1 millionth robot while also deploying its new AI foundation model to power its robotic fleet. The robotics cycle is “early,” according to Bank of America’s analyst, who expects Amazon to leverage robots to reduce labor dependency, increase order accuracy and improve warehouse efficiency, driving material cost savings.
When Amazon released its Q2 earnings on July 31, it reported that net sales increased 13% to $167.7 billion in the second quarter, compared with $148.0 billion in the year-prior quarter. Net income increased to $18.2 billion, or $1.68 per diluted share, compared with $13.5 billion, or $1.26 per diluted share, in Q2 2024. However, free cash flow decreased to $18.2 billion TTM, compared with $53.0 billion TTM the year prior due to Amazon’s ongoing CapEx on AI.
In June and July the stock saw a series of adjusted price targets. Analysts at Stifel ($262 from $245), Barclays ($275 from $240), Bank of America ($272 from $265), Piper Sandler ($255 from $250), Capital ($270 from $233), Citi ($265 from $225), Needham ($265 from $220), Cantor Fitzgerald ($260 from $240), Truist ($250 from $226), all recently upgraded their price targets for AMZN.
While there can be little doubt about Amazon’s current financial health, investors and potential investors may be right to wonder whether growth can continue at Amazon’s historic pace, and whether the stock is safe as a long-term holding. Let’s take a look at where the share price could be headed.
Why Invest in Amazon?
Amazon.com Inc
NASDAQ:AMZN$215.57▲ $32.23(14.95%)1YPre-Market1D5D1M3M6M1Y5YMAXKEY DATA POINTS−
Previous Close$216.39Market Cap2.40TDay's Range$212.66 - $217.7152wk Range$161.38 - $242.52Volume45.91MP/E Ratio34.33Gross Margin10.50%Dividend YieldN/AExchangeNASDAQIn the past 20 years, Amazon’s stock is up more than 10,288%. The company has been called one of the most influential economic and cultural forces in the world, and its brand is one of the world’s most valuable. Though the stock tumbled as the COVID-19 pandemic waned and lockdowns ended (along with the broader markets), it has more than recovered.
Shares of this Magnificent Seven member hit an all-time high on Feb. 4, 2025, but with the NASDAQ briefly entering bear market territory in March, it had been downhill for Amazon in 2025. There have been signs of hope recently, with AMZN rebounding along with the broad market. It is hard to imagine that the company or its share price will collapse any time soon, but analysts and investors may see the stock as overbought. Let’s see what Wall Street expects.
Amazon as a Company
The company engages in the retail sale of consumer products, advertising, and subscriptions service through online and physical stores internationally. It also manufactures and sells electronic devices and develops and produces media content. Amazon Web Services (AWS) provides compute, storage, database, analytics, machine learning, and other services. And Amazon Prime is the company’s membership program.
Amazon is based in Seattle. It was founded in 1994 by Jeff Bezos, the former chief executive officer and now executive board chair. Amazon went public in May 1997. Its retail competitors includeAlibaba Group Holding Ltd. (NYSE:BABA),Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) andWalmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT). It also competes with the likes ofNetflix Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX)andMicrosoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MSFT).
The company continues its push into artificial intelligence with an update of its Alexa feature to Alexa+. AWS investments in cloud computing and AI also continue, with the former being the world’s largest cloud services provider and the latter nearing its debut of its “Nova” chatbot, which will compete in price with ChatGPT. Additionally, Amazon has been expanding its same-day delivery services, and its entertainment division has secured the James Bond franchise with the acquisition of MGM Studios. Headwinds include ongoing labor issues. The most recent quarterly results showed strong performance, with AWS as a major growth driver.
Amazon as a Stock
Wall Street analysts’ median price target of $267.25 is above Amazon’s all-time high share price seen earlier this year and good for potential upside of 21.32%. Of the 44 analysts covering AMZN, all assign it a “Buy” rating, with none assigning it a “Hold” or “Sell” rating. Overall, the stock receives a consensus “Strong Buy” rating.
With 64.67% of shares held by institutional investors — including notable stakes from the three largest asset management companies, Vanguard, BlackRock and State Street — the stock is popular among Wall Street’s sell-side firms. Institutional holdings of Amazon have seen net increase with 3,157 position increases versus 2,141 position decreases.
Wall Street expectations for where the stock goes in the next 52 weeks vary. While analysts overall anticipate healthy upside, the lowest price target indicates a decline in the share price. The consensus projection signals strong upside potential for the next 52 weeks, based on strong forward guidance for business segments like AWS and Prime Video’s ad sales, which saw enormous year-over-year increases as the platform now hosts the NFL’s Thursday Night Football programming.
| Estimate | Price Target | %Change From Current Price |
| Low | $230.00 | 4.41 |
| Median | $267.25 | 21.32% |
| High | $300.00 | 36.19% |
Amazon does face some headwinds and risks in addition to those mentioned above. Consumer spending has rebounded in the wake of Trump’s tariff threats and subsequent pauses, which could help GDP in Q2 after it contracted GDP in Q1, raising the risks of a possible recession in 2025. Over the past month, the consumer discretionary sector of the S&P 500 — into which Amazon falls — has performed the fifth-worst among all 11 sectors by posting a loss of 1.77%.
While the company dominates in the retail space and is a tech leader, competition in neither category is likely to go away anytime soon. All these things could have a huge impact on profitability. Despite some skeptics, the prospects for Amazon are optimistic overall, especially in the short term. Wall Street’s “Strong Buy” consensus rating and the upside potential far outweigh the downside potential shares of AMZN face.