Amazon price target raised to $175 from $170 at Benchmark

Benchmark analyst Daniel Kurnos raised the firm’s price target on Amazon.com to $175 from $170 and keeps a Buy rating on the shares ahead of the company reporting Q4 results a week from this Thursday. The firm expects “another solid ecommerce quarter,” but “Wall Street apparently is no longer interested in Amazon the retailer” and in terms of the “topic du jour,” namely the upcoming launch of Prime Video Ads, the firm thinks it has “a different view than many with regards to the size and impact” of the advertising launch. While Benchmark maintains a favorable view on Amazon despite the rapid share recovery, it acknowledges that the risk/reward profile, while “perhaps safer, has perhaps become modestly less appealing than other opportunities.”