Shares of Amazon.com Inc. rallied Friday to the highest close in more than nine months, and ended June with a fourth-straight monthly gain.
The stock’s AMZN, +1.92% rally comes as investors gird for the ecommerce giant’s annual Prime Day sales event in mid-July.
J.P. Morgan analyst Doug Anmuth reiterated the overweight rating he’s had on the stock for at least the past three years, saying in a recent note to clients that he projects Amazon to get about a $ 5 billion revenue boost from next month’s Prime Day, or about 13% more than last year.
“Importantly, 2023 is tracking toward the fastest Prime delivery speeds ever, which we believe helps drive higher customer consideration and purchase frequency,” Anmuth wrote.
Also read: Amazon Prime Day is coming in July. Here’s who else will be offering deals.
The stock rose 1.9% to $ 130.36 on Friday, the highest close since Sept. 9, 2022. It has soared 38.3% over the past four months, compared with a 12.1% rise in the S&P 500 index SPX, +1.23% over the same period.
That’s the longest monthly win streak for Amazon’s stock since the four-month stretch that ended January 2020, or before the COVID-19 pandemic.
It was also the stock’s best four-month performance since it shot up 39.5% in the four months through August 2020, boosted by the COVID-induced explosion in online shopping.
Analyst Youssef Squali at Truist also reiterated his buy rating on Amazon’s stock in a recent note to clients, as he sees the company’s “Buy with Prime” (BwP) offering as a “major enabler” of online retailers’ direct-to-consumer (DTC) offerings through Prime Day. The BwP offering allows third-party merchants on Amazon’s site to offer Prime services, such as seamless payment and free delivery.
“[W]e believe BwP is an offering tailor-suited for DTC companies and should enable Amazon to gain share of off-Amazon transactions,” Squali wrote. “By out estimate, BwP should unlock [approximately $ 10 billion] in revenue in the U.S. by 2026,” with growth from adoption by DTC players.
Amazon’s stock has rocketed 59.3% since it closed at a near four-year low of $ 81.82 on Dec. 28, 2022, which compares with a 17.6% rise in the S&P 500 over the same time. (Read about the technical significance of the low-$ 80s area for Amazon’s stock.)