New reports out of e-commerce giant Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) suggest that the Alexa service is getting a bit of retooling…and a price tag. The service, formerly available to users for free, is about to get a serious upgrade and take an extra bite out of your wallet. Why? It’s all because of artificial intelligence (AI), and that news was enough to give Amazon a fractional bump in Wednesday afternoon’s trading.
Reports note that Alexa will be getting an upgrade, which will give it artificial intelligence and a greater capacity for conversation. These upgrades, meanwhile, will need to be paid for somehow, so the ostensibly more powerful version of Alexa will come with a monthly subscription fee. That’s a separate subscription fee from the $139 annual fee for Amazon Prime, of course, and just how much that fee will be is currently unknown.
Bolstering Its Presence Elsewhere
Meanwhile, Amazon is set to bring a new feature to its streaming operations, as the NBA is poised to formalize written contracts with the company later this week. Amazon won’t be the only beneficiary here, as both NBC (NASDAQ:CMCSA) and Disney (NYSE:DIS) will be getting in on the action. Amazon’s part in this will likely feature the Emirates In-Season Tournament, first-round playoff games, the SoFi Play-In Tournament, the WNBA, and rights on an international basis.
Is Amazon a Buy or Sell Stock?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Strong Buy consensus rating on AMZN stock based on 42 Buys assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 59.86% rally in its share price over the past year, the average AMZN price target of $220.60 per share implies 20.11% upside potential.
Is It Wise to Allocate $1,000 Toward AMZN Stock Right Now?
Before you hurry to invest in AMZN, think about the following:
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