Amazon (AMZN) closed at $217.77 in the latest trading session, marking a -0.32% move from the prior day. This change lagged the S&P 500's 0.12% gain on the day. Elsewhere, the Dow gained 0.52%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.23%.
Coming into today, shares of the online retailer had lost 6.21% in the past month. In that same time, the Retail-Wholesale sector lost 4.43%, while the S&P 500 lost 3.45%.
The investment community will be closely monitoring the performance of Amazon in its forthcoming earnings report. The company's earnings per share (EPS) are projected to be $1.53, reflecting a 51.49% increase from the same quarter last year. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $187.1 billion, up 10.08% from the prior-year quarter.
Furthermore, it would be beneficial for investors to monitor any recent shifts in analyst projections for Amazon. 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 demonstrates that these adjustments in estimates directly associate with imminent stock price performance. To utilize this, we have created the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model that integrates these estimate changes and provides a functional rating system.
Ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), the Zacks Rank system has a proven, outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks returning an average of +25% annually since 1988. Over the last 30 days, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 1.67% higher. As of now, Amazon holds a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).
Digging into valuation, Amazon currently has a Forward P/E ratio of 34.53. This denotes a premium relative to the industry's average Forward P/E of 20.64.
One should further note that AMZN currently holds a PEG ratio of 1.22. The PEG ratio is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but this metric also takes the company's expected earnings growth rate into account. The Internet - Commerce was holding an average PEG ratio of 1.18 at yesterday's closing price.
The Internet - Commerce industry is part of the Retail-Wholesale sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 141, putting it in the bottom 44% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank is ordered from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.