Amazon.com (AMZN) Stock Up as Consumers Prefer Site for Holiday Shopping

A survey showed that most U.S. consumers plan to do their holiday shopping on Amazon.com (AMZN).
By Amanda Schiavo ,

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Shares of Amazon.com (AMZN) - Get Report are higher by 0.22% to $665 in pre-market trading on Thursday morning, as U.S. consumers are planning to do almost all of their holiday shopping on the e-commerce marketplace site.

A survey of 3,426 adults conducted from November 12 to 18 by Reuters/Ipsos found that 51% are planning to do most of their online holiday shopping this season at Amazon.

This compared to the 16% that said they will shop on Wal-Mart's (WMT) website, 3% at Target (TGT) and 2% at Macy's (M), Reuters reports.

The survey highlights the struggle traditional retailers have been facing in competition with online marketplaces. Many have been putting forward initiatives to bring consumers back to their stores, however Reuters points out that the survey shows those efforts were falling short.

"The Big Kahuna that continues to grab market share is Amazon," Craig Johnson, head of retail consultancy at Customer Growth Partners told Reuters. "Both Wal-Mart and to some extent Target have simply not kept pace enough."

Separately, TheStreet Ratings team rates AMAZON.COM INC as a Hold with a ratings score of C. TheStreet Ratings Team has this to say about their recommendation:

We rate AMAZON.COM INC (AMZN) a HOLD. The primary factors that have impacted our rating are mixed - some indicating strength, some showing weaknesses, with little evidence to justify the expectation of either a positive or negative performance for this stock relative to most other stocks. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its compelling growth in net income, robust revenue growth and largely solid financial position with reasonable debt levels by most measures. However, as a counter to these strengths, we find that the company's return on equity has been disappointing.

Highlights from the analysis by TheStreet Ratings Team goes as follows:

  • The net income growth from the same quarter one year ago has greatly exceeded that of the S&P 500, but is less than that of the Internet & Catalog Retail industry average. The net income increased by 118.1% when compared to the same quarter one year prior, rising from -$437.00 million to $79.00 million.
  • AMZN's revenue growth trails the industry average of 38.2%. Since the same quarter one year prior, revenues rose by 23.2%. Growth in the company's revenue appears to have helped boost the earnings per share.
  • AMAZON.COM INC reported significant earnings per share improvement in the most recent quarter compared to the same quarter a year ago. This company has reported somewhat volatile earnings recently. But, we feel it is poised for EPS growth in the coming year. During the past fiscal year, AMAZON.COM INC swung to a loss, reporting -$0.54 versus $0.58 in the prior year. This year, the market expects an improvement in earnings ($1.92 versus -$0.54).
  • Powered by its strong earnings growth of 117.89% and other important driving factors, this stock has surged by 113.66% over the past year, outperforming the rise in the S&P 500 Index during the same period. Looking ahead, however, we cannot assume that the stock's past performance is going to drive future results. Quite to the contrary, its sharp appreciation over the last year is one of the factors that should prompt investors to seek better opportunities elsewhere.
  • The return on equity has improved slightly when compared to the same quarter one year prior. This can be construed as a modest strength in the organization. Compared to other companies in the Internet & Catalog Retail industry and the overall market on the basis of return on equity, AMAZON.COM INC underperformed against that of the industry average and is significantly less than that of the S&P 500.
  • You can view the full analysis from the report here: AMZN

Any reference to TheStreet Ratings and its underlying recommendation does not reflect the opinion of Jim Cramer, TheStreet or any of its contributors.

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