Will 2022 Be the Year for Amazon Stock to Hit New Highs?
Amazon (AMZN) - Get Amazon.com, Inc. Report has not had a great year.
With just one trading day left in 2021, Amazon is up only 2.5% for the year. That badly lags the S&P 500 and Nasdaq, which are both up more than 23% in 2021.
However, it also lags all of its FAANG peers, as well as other mega cap companies like Microsoft (MSFT) - Get Microsoft Corporation Report and Nvidia (NVDA) - Get NVIDIA Corporation Report.
On the plus side, all the FAANG components are up on the year, but only Apple (AAPL) - Get Apple Inc. Report and Alphabet (GOOGL) - Get Alphabet Inc. Class A Report (GOOG) - Get Alphabet Inc. Class C Report were able to beat the S&P 500.
Yet, Amazon continues to make the list for top stocks to buy for next year.
Cowen analysts like Amazon going into next year. So do the analysts at JPMorgan. There are others too (like Barron's).
The point is, after a year of underperformance, investors want to know if Amazon will be able to come roaring back to life.
Trading Amazon Stock
Weekly chart of Amazon stock.
Chart courtesy of TrendSpider.com
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I wanted to use a weekly chart here to show that Amazon stock is no stranger to long periods of consolidation. We saw it from mid-2018 to the breakout in 2020.
We’re seeing it again now, too.
All the while, shares continue to put in a series of higher lows while riding along the 50-week moving average.
The monthly chart also highlights just how tight the range is getting with this stock.
Should Amazon begin to push higher — either in the new year or after earnings in a couple of weeks — we’ll have to keep an eye on the $3,550 area.
Not only has that level been resistance for more than a year at this point, but the December high also sits just shy of $3,560.
Following an inside month in December, an inside-and-up monthly rotation over this level could help trigger a larger push higher.
In that case, the $3,750 level will be in focus — where the stock has previously double-topped — followed by the $3,950 to $4,000 area.
On the downside, a break of $3,250 could put the recent lows in play near $3,190. Below that and who knows, perhaps the $2,880 to $3,000 area is on the table.
