Shares in tech giant Amazon (AMZN) switched off today on reports that it failed to meet its sign-up targets for its recent Prime Day discount sales extravaganza.
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Targets Missed
According to a Reuters report, despite doubling its Prime Day discount sales event to four days this year, sign-ups in the U.S. failed to meet last year’s total and even the company’s own target.
The report said that internal company data showed that the online giant registered 5.4 million U.S. sign-ups over the 21-day run-up to Prime Day and its four-day sales event from July 8 to July 11. That was around 116,000 fewer than for the same period a year earlier and 106,000 below the company’s own goal, a roughly 2% decline for both metrics.
Reuters was unable to determine how many days Amazon used in its calculation for the full 2024 period.
Amazon said it had achieved record-breaking sign-ups in the 25 days around Prime Day, without providing specifics. “Prime membership continues to show strong growth and customer engagement in the U.S. and internationally,” the company said in a statement to Reuters.
Back in July, Amazon said its latest Prime Day drove $24.1 billion in online spending from July 8-11, a 30% increase from the summer 2024 sales event.
Prime is Key
Prime Day is huge for Amazon and is seen as the key event for the company outside of the Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday season. Subscriptions are a vital part of the firm’s revenue stream, as seen below.
The less than stellar event this time around could, analysts say, be due to greater competition from the likes of retailer Walmart (WMT) in both delivery and AI tech, as well as the impact of President Trump’s tariffs on consumer appetite.
“Prime is strategically very important to Amazon,” said Colin Sebastian, an R.W. Baird analyst. “People on Prime spend more on Amazon and they are less likely to be enticed by competitors’ offers of lower prices.”
According to Consumer Intelligence Research Partners, Prime members, enticed by no-cost and fast shipping times, spent an average of $1,170 with Amazon in 2024 compared with $570 for non-members.
Is AMZN a Good Stock to Buy Now?
On TipRanks, AMZN has a Strong Buy consensus, based on 44 Buy and 1 Hold ratings. Its highest price target is $300. AMZN stock’s consensus price target is $264.13, implying a 15.34% upside.
