How Amazon's Stock Trades Following Q4 Earnings

Amazon.com, Inc. AMZN is reporting its fourth-quarter earnings after Thursday's close.

Benzinga took a look back at Amazon’s six previous fourth-quarter earnings reports to look for any potential patterns in how the stock reacts.

• Q4 2017: shares up 2.8 percent the first day following the report
• Q4 2016: down 3.5 percent
• Q4 2015: up 6.2 percent
• Q4 2014: up 13.7 percent
• Q4 2013: down 10.9 percent
• Q4 2012: up 4.7 percent

Related Link: Amazon Q4 Earnings Preview

Most initial fourth-quarter earnings reactions have been relatively strong, and many of Amazon’s most volatile trading sessions of the past eight years have happened within two days of an earnings release. The charts below show Amazon’s largest single-day gains and losses of the past eight years. The dates highlighted by the red boxes indicate trading sessions that occurred within two days of a quarterly earnings report.

Here are some potential takeaways from the information outlined above:

• Amazon tends to have volatile earnings reactions, and 15 of its 16 most volatile trading sessions of the past eight years were in response to earnings reports.
• Amazon stock has typically moved up or down more than 3 percent on the day following Q4 earnings.
• Four of Amazon’s last five earnings reports have generated a positive market reaction, but the lone exception was a massive 7.8 percent post-earnings sell-off last quarter.

According to Optionslam.com, Amazon’s seven-day implied movement based on the weekly options market is 6.7 percent.

Amazon traded around $1,723.63 per share, up 3.2 percent at time of publication. The stock is up 15 percent year-to-date.