Not long ago, e-retailing giant Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) started up a set of cost-cutting measures that looked to restrain the company’s ventures and help push it toward better profits. Now, we can see the outcomes of those moves start to appear, and the news is reasonably good. Sufficiently good, in fact, for investors to push Amazon shares up slightly in Wednesday afternoon’s trading.
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The recent impact of the fall Prime Day is still being measured, but Numerator live trackers suggest sales are brisk if not particularly impressive; currently the average household spend is $54.99, down from July, but up slightly from last October’s big sale. And with Amazon’s same-day and one-day shipping options, as well as rising growth in advertising, this should help give Amazon a leg up.
However, there are troubles ahead. Holiday shopping is expected to be lackluster, thanks to a number of macroeconomic factors. Meanwhile, Amazon is pushing some fulfillment costs to first-party vendors, which may impact which vendors offer what on Amazon.
Is Amazon a Buy or Sell Stock?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Strong Buy consensus rating on AMZN stock based on 41 Buys and one Hold assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. Furthermore, the average AMZN price target of $176.33 per share implies 34.55% upside potential.
