Erste Group Bank Predicts Reduced Earnings for Amazon.com

Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) – Investment analysts at Erste Group Bank lowered their FY2026 earnings estimates for Amazon.com in a research note issued on Tuesday, March 24th. Erste Group Bank analyst S. Lingnau now forecasts that the e-commerce giant will post earnings per share of $7.74 for the year, down from their prior estimate of $7.75. The consensus estimate for Amazon.com’s current full-year earnings is $6.31 per share.

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The e-commerce giant reported $1.95 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.97 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $213.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $211.02 billion. Amazon.com had a return on equity of 21.87% and a net margin of 10.83%.Amazon.com’s revenue was up 13.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.86 EPS.

Several other analysts have also weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $310.00 target price (up from $304.00) on shares of Amazon.com in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. New Street Research cut their price target on Amazon.com from $350.00 to $285.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Amazon.com from $303.00 to $286.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. UBS Group set a $311.00 price objective on shares of Amazon.com in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, Barclays restated a “buy” rating on shares of Amazon.com in a report on Monday, March 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifty-three have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Amazon.com presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $286.66.

Amazon.com Stock Performance

Shares of AMZN stock opened at $199.34 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $216.42 and a 200 day moving average price of $225.11. The stock has a market cap of $2.14 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.40. Amazon.com has a 1 year low of $161.38 and a 1 year high of $258.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 1.05.

Insider Transactions at Amazon.com

In other news, CEO Andrew R. Jassy sold 19,872 shares of Amazon.com stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $205.18, for a total transaction of $4,077,336.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,238,118 shares in the company, valued at $459,217,051.24. The trade was a 0.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP David Zapolsky sold 10,649 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $205.43, for a total transaction of $2,187,624.07. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 41,190 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,461,661.70. This represents a 20.54% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 71,686 shares of company stock worth $14,688,739 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 9.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Amazon.com

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Lifelong Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Amazon.com by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Lifelong Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 1,740 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock valued at $402,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the period. Financial Connections Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Amazon.com by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Financial Connections Group Inc. now owns 1,633 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock worth $376,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the period. Marquette Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Amazon.com by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Marquette Asset Management LLC now owns 886 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock worth $205,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the period. Western Financial Corp CA boosted its position in shares of Amazon.com by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Western Financial Corp CA now owns 3,076 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock worth $710,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Navalign LLC grew its holdings in Amazon.com by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Navalign LLC now owns 13,349 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock valued at $3,081,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the period. 72.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Amazon.com News

Here are the key news stories impacting Amazon.com this week:

• Positive Sentiment: AWS AI demand and bank price‑target lifts — Citi and JPMorgan raised price targets and highlighted surging demand for AWS AI capacity, which supports Amazon’s high-margin cloud growth thesis. As Demand for AWS’ AI Surges, Citi and JPMorgan Raise Amazon Price Targets
• Positive Sentiment: Bull case from sell‑side: Bernstein and other analysts point to Amazon as an AI/cloud winner alongside Nvidia, reinforcing longer‑term AI revenue upside for AWS and custom silicon. Bernstein Says Qualcomm Isn’t an AI Winner…
• Positive Sentiment: Robotics/automation expansion — Amazon’s acquisition of Fauna Robotics (humanoid/consumer robotics) and continued investment in delivery/warehouse automation support cost savings and longer‑term efficiency gains for logistics. Deal Dispatch: Amazon Acquires Fauna Robotics
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst upgrades and mixed estimates — Several analysts and firms have reiterated buy ratings or nudged targets higher (including JPMorgan, Citigroup, Tigress), while small estimate tweaks from the likes of Erste show modest model revisions rather than a major shift. Amazon.com Stock Price Expected to Rise, Tigress Financial Analyst Says
• Neutral Sentiment: Prime/fulfillment pilots could broaden reach — Tests that let merchants offer Prime shipping externally (multi‑channel fulfillment) may expand Prime’s ecosystem, but benefits will be gradual. Amazon testing Prime benefits on third‑party sites
• Negative Sentiment: Executive departures at Annapurna Labs / Trainium chip team — Reports of a senior AI‑chip product leader leaving (a second notable exit in months) raise execution and timeline concerns for Amazon’s custom silicon initiatives. Amazon AI chip product leader leaves Annapurna Labs faces second executive exit
• Negative Sentiment: Macro and market risk — Rising crude oil and Middle East uncertainty have dragged markets lower and hit tech stocks broadly this week, amplifying downside pressure on AMZN despite company‑specific positives. US Equity Markets End Lower After Crude Oil Climbs Tech stocks suffer worst week in nearly a year
• Negative Sentiment: AI capex / credit concerns — Coverage highlighting a large AI‑related debt build and investor unease about heavy AI capex can pressure sentiment while Amazon invests aggressively in GPUs, data centers, and custom chips. AI debt tsunami and JPMorgan risk tools
• Negative Sentiment: Sentiment risks from capex/guidance and insider sales — Articles flag higher capex guidance as a near‑term headwind, and visible insider selling activity can add to short‑term downside pressure. Key Risks To Watch Insider selling and market impact data

Amazon.com Company Profile

Amazon.com, Inc is a diversified technology and retail company best known for its e-commerce marketplace and broad portfolio of consumer and enterprise services. Founded by Jeff Bezos in 1994 and headquartered in Seattle, Washington, the company launched as an online bookseller and expanded into a global retail platform that sells products directly to consumers and provides a marketplace for third-party sellers. Over time Amazon has grown beyond retail into areas including cloud computing, digital media, devices and logistics.

Key businesses and offerings include Amazon’s online marketplace and fulfillment services, the Amazon Prime membership program (which bundles expedited shipping with streaming and other benefits), Amazon Web Services (AWS) which supplies on-demand cloud computing and storage to businesses and public-sector customers, and a range of content and advertising services such as Prime Video and Amazon Advertising.