'The One To Own In eCommerce': Wall Street Cheers Amazon Following Earnings Beat

Amazon.com, Inc AMZN shares traded higher by 1.3% on Friday after the company’s first-quarter earnings numbers far exceeded expectations.

For the first quarter, Amazon reported adjusted EPS of $15.79 on $108.5 billion in revenue. Both numbers beat consensus analyst estimates of $9.54 and $104.4 billion, respectively. Revenue was up 44% from a year ago.

Amazon Web Services' cloud revenue was up 32% in the quarter to $13.5 billion. Online retail sales were up 44% to $52.9 billion.

Amazon also guided for second-quarter revenue of between $110 billion and $116 billion, above analyst estimates of $108.6 billion. Amazon’s second-quarter revenue will get a boost from the company’s annual Prime Day event, which Amazon confirmed will take place in June.

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Strength Across The Board: Morgan Stanley analyst Brian Nowak said that every one of Amazon’s businesses exceeded his expectations in the quarter.

“AMZN's 1Q results/2Q guide highlight its still-inflecting and increasingly global e-commerce business, improving fulfillment/shipping efficiency, and accelerating advertising and AWS businesses,” Nowak wrote in a note.

Raymond James analyst Aaron Kessler said Amazon’s combination of accelerating sales growth and improving margins makes the stock a compelling investment.

“Amazon delivered strong 1Q results driven by upside in core retail (with International acceleration), as well as accelerating growth in higher margin segments including AWS and advertising,” Kessler wrote.

KeyBanc analyst Edward Yruma said share gains and momentum will likely continue to drive Amazon’s stock higher.

“Both North America (+39% adj. FX) and International (+50% adj. FX) posted impressive sales results, and importantly, COVID-19 costs are beginning to abate (will be $1.5B in 2Q21 vs. $4.0B 2Q20),” Yruma wrote.

International And Advertising Growth: Needham analyst Laura Martin said Amazon’s international business and its advertising business were among the first-quarter highlights.

“We calculate that AMZN's advertising business is worth $430B (mostly hidden) today, or 25% of AMZN's total Mkt Cap,” Martin wrote.

Telsey Advisory Group analyst Joseph Feldman said Amazon is pulling all the right growth levers.

“The focus on newer businesses and initiatives—grocery, pharmacy, fashion, home, private brands, third-party, same-day/one-day delivery, and Amazon Logistics—is making Amazon more valuable,” Feldman wrote.

Bank of America analyst Justin Post said Amazon is “the one to own in eCommerce.”

“Amazon’s results & outlook suggest that 2021 revenues could hold up better than peers (Amazon retail less than full capacity in 2020),” Post wrote.

AMZN Ratings And Price Targets: Morgan Stanley has an Overweight rating and $4,500 target.

Raymond James has an Outperform rating and $4,125 target.

KeyBanc has an Overweight rating and $4,000 target.

Needham has a Buy rating and $4,150 target.

Needham has an Outperform rating and $4,000 target.

Bank of America has a Buy rating and $4,360 target.

The stock trades around $3,510 at publication time.