Sometimes, when you’re a stock as big as e-retailing giant Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN), you have to try things just to get ahead. And sometimes, these things look strange or have only limited effect. Amazon’s been trying a few new things these days, and investors don’t think too much of them one way or the other. One of the latest moves Amazon made was a cost-cutting measure designed to save some cash by ditching some private label brands.
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This might be a better move than some would think, as government regulators have focused on Amazon’s private label stuff, using it as fodder against Amazon in antitrust arguments. Some might already be familiar with “Amazon Basics,” an in-house brand devoted to smaller components like batteries and certain cables. Some of these will stick around, but reports note that “dozens” of brands will likely eventually be phased out.
Meanwhile, Amazon is also joining the RTO—Return To Office—push. While the pandemic made working out of an office largely impossible unless you owned it yourself, the declines in lockdowns and other measures made businesses anxious to get back to the status quo. However, employees preferred the flexibility that remote work offered and wanted to stick with it. Companies fought back, and Amazon proved no different, sending out a slew of memos targeting those who haven’t been returning to the office at least three days a week. Several recipients questioned the validity of the messages, saying they’d indeed complied, but others believed this may be a paper trail move designed to launch new layoffs.
Regardless of how odd these items may appear, analysts aren’t thinking too much of it. With 39 Buy ratings and one Hold, Amazon stock is considered a Strong Buy, and nearly unanimously. Further, Amazon stock comes with an upside potential of 25.26% thanks to its average price target of $172.69.
