Amazon (AMZN) closed the most recent trading day at $95.46, moving -0.61% from the previous trading session. This change was narrower than the S&P 500’s 1.56% loss on the day. Meanwhile, the Dow lost 1.81%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, lost 4.66%.
Prior to today’s trading, shares of the online retailer had gained 12.75% over the past month. This has outpaced the Retail-Wholesale sector’s gain of 7.14% and the S&P 500’s gain of 3.82% in that time.
Investors will be hoping for strength from Amazon as it approaches its next earnings release. On that day, Amazon is projected to report earnings of $0.17 per share, which would represent a year-over-year decline of 87.77%. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $145.54 billion, up 5.92% from the year-ago period.
Any recent changes to analyst estimates for Amazon should also be noted by investors. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the company’s business and profitability.
Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. 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 ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell). It has a remarkable, outside-audited track record of success, with #1 stocks delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.42% higher within the past month. Amazon is holding a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now.
Digging into valuation, Amazon currently has a Forward P/E ratio of 60.85. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 21.48, so we one might conclude that Amazon is trading at a premium comparatively.
It is also worth noting that AMZN currently has a PEG ratio of 3.02. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock’s expected earnings growth rate. AMZN’s industry had an average PEG ratio of 1.26 as of yesterday’s close.
The Internet – Commerce industry is part of the Retail-Wholesale sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 53, which puts it in the top 22% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our individual industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
You can find more information on all of these metrics, and much more, on Zacks.com.
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