Amazon’s (AMZN) October Prime Day will likely reflect the same shopping trends at Costco.
Costco recently noted that shoppers are resuming spending on non-food items as inflation eases, with non-food categories like beauty and home goods leading its comparable sales growth.
This shift bodes well for Amazon, which is gearing up for its Prime Day event from Oct. 8 to 9. As consumers increase discretionary spending, Amazon could see a significant boost in sales during Prime Day, particularly in non-food categories like electronics and apparel.
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There could be more to expect as the holiday season approaches. Adobe recently projected U.S. online sales to reach $240.8 billion during the 2024 holiday season (from Nov. 1 through Dec. 31, 2024), marking an 8.4% year-over-year increase, according to thefly.com’s report on Sept. 25.
On Sept.26, Cathie Wood bought 2K shares of Amazon through its ARK Autonomous Technology & Robotics ETF (ARKQ) ahead of the fourth quarter, reflecting a total dollar value of $389,488 and further signaling continued confidence in the e-commerce’s growth potential.
Amazon recently announced its return-to-office (RTO) policy, which requires employees to return to physical offices at least three days a week.
According to a recent survey on Blind, 73% of 2,585 Amazon workers said they are considering finding new jobs after CEO Andy Jassy's Sept. 16 memo.
However, Amazon's stock price has little changed as strict office attendance policies may be a way to get people to quit and avoid the cost of laying them off.
Amazon’s Q2 financials disappointed investors
Amazon stock is up more than 24% year-to-date as of September 30, outperforming the S&P 500, which is up 21.5%. The company lost nearly 9% on August 2 following disappointing sales but has now recovered from that drop.
Related: Amazon’s new return-to-office mandate is starting to backfire
During the second quarter, the company earned $1.26 per share, topping the $1.03 expected by analysts. However, Q2 revenue of $147.98 billion missed the $148.56 billion forecast.
The company also posted a weak Q3 guidance, expecting revenue between $154 billion and $158.5 billion. The midpoint, $156.25 billion, falls short of the average analyst estimate of $158.24 billion.
AWS grew 19% year-over-year, beating estimates but lagging behind rivals Microsoft and Google. Meanwhile, Amazon’s advertising revenue rose 20% to $12.77 billion, slightly below expectations.
Analysts raise Amazon stock price target
On Sept. 30, Truist analyst Youssef Squali raised Amazon's price target to $265 from $230 and kept a buy rating.
Related: Amazon gets sued by American Eagle for internet-famous dupes
Squali expects Amazon's North America revenue to align with consensus estimates, driven by a resilient consumer base, continued advertising revenue growth, accelerated Web Services growth, and higher year-over-year operating margins.
“This comes even as the company invests aggressively in artificial intelligence, AWS, logistics and Project Kuiper,” the analyst tells investors in a research note pulled by thefly.com.
Truist maintains that Amazon is its top mega-cap pick as the company continues to expand its share of global e-commerce and enhance its value proposition for both merchants and consumers.
The firm also views Amazon as one of the best players in cloud, AI, digital advertising, and global logistics. Additionally, Truist has shifted its price target projection from fiscal 2024 to 2025.
More Retail Stocks:
- Target makes bold clarification to return policy amid alarming trend
- Analyst revisits Costco stock price target, rating ahead of earnings
- Nike shares swoosh higher after new CEO is named
Evercore ISI analyst Mark Mahaney also raised Amazon’s price target to $240 from $225 and kept an outperform rating. The stock remains the analyst's "#1 Large Cap Long" in Internet, thefly.com reported on Sept. 20.
The analyst highlighted that Amazon's Prime Video is projected to generate $3 billion to $5.9 billion in revenue in 2025, which would add 3% to 9% growth to the estimated $56 billion in ad revenue Amazon is expected to make in 2024.
Amazon shares traded at $186.33 on Sept. 30.
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