Amazon, Yahoo! Are S&P Gainers
NEW YORK (
) -- Shares of
Amazon
(AMZN) - Get Report
and
Yahoo!
(YHOO)
were among the best performers on the
S&P 500
midday Friday.
|
The
S&P 500
fell 10.71 points to 1,341.24.
Shares of Amazon rose 1.06% to $186.94. The competition between rival tablet maker
Apple
(AAPL) - Get Report
and Amazon is getting more heated. Pacific Crest analyst Chad Bartley said in a research note this week that Amazon could launch a 9-inch Kindle Fire by the middle of 2012 to help it better compete with Apple's iPad.
Amazon has an estimated price-to-earnings ratio for next year of 46.43; the average for broad-line retailers is 27.67. For comparison,
Wal-Mart
(WMT) - Get Report
and
Costco
(COST) - Get Report
both have lower forward P/Es of 12.53 and 19.21, respectively.
Twenty-four of the 40 analysts who cover Amazon rated it a buy. Fifteen analysts gave the stock a hold rating and one considered it a sell. Shares of Amazon have risen 7.61% year to date.
Yahoo!
Shares of Yahoo! increased 1.56% to $16.25.
Alibaba
has been working on a deal that would allow it to get part of its stake held by Yahoo! back,
The New York Times
reported.
"While it is still early, new CEO Scott Thompson could provide some stability," Piper Jaffray analysts wrote in a Feb. 2 report. "We believe the lack of stability in management was a partial reason for the weakness in display starting primarily in the back half of 2011. We continue to believe the possible revaluation of shares through a potential Alibaba/Yahoo! Japan deal could drive additional upside as a deal could result in excess cash that Yahoo! could use to buy back shares."
Yahoo! has a forward P/E of 17; the average for Internet companies is 23.5. For comparison,
IAC/InterActiveCorp
(IACI)
has a lower forward P/E of 14.04 and
Akamai
(AKAM) - Get Report
has a forward P/E of 20.51.
Of the 31 analysts who cover the company, 21 analysts rated Yahoo! a hold. Nine analysts gave the stock a buy rating and one considered it a hold. Shares of the stock have ticked up 12 cents year to date.
-- Written by Alexandra Zendrian
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