Amazon (AMZN) stock has risen 2.30% over the past week, 10.75% in the last month, and 12.82% over the past year, showing steady, if not spectacular, momentum. Wall Street’s analysts are firmly bullish, with a StrongBuy consensus and a 12‑month average price target of $294.55 versus a recent close of $246.47. That implies meaningful upside potential over the coming year, as investors weigh Amazon’s mixed 2025 performance against rising expectations for its cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) businesses in 2026.
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One of the most influential voices backing the stock is Justin Post of Bank of America, who reiterated his Buy rating on 12 January 2026 and set a price objective of $303.00, implying further upside from current levels. Post is a highly ranked analyst, standing at 54 out of 11,984 tracked experts, with a success rate of 68.65% and an average return of 25.00% per rating. His stance adds weight to the already bullish Street outlook and underscores the view that Amazon’s story is far from fully priced in.
Post’s report highlights that Amazon shares were up about 5% in 2025, lagging both the S&P 500, up 16%, and the Nasdaq, up 20%. Retail operations continued to perform well, with modest market share gains and expanding margins, but concerns around Amazon Web Services (AWS) and its AI positioning hurt sentiment and compressed the forward EV/EBITDA multiple by roughly 15% year over year. The analyst believes 2026 could mark a turning point: new AWS capacity, leadership changes, and strong usage of Amazon’s Rufus assistant could accelerate cloud growth and reposition AWS more favorably in the AI race.
Looking ahead, Post sees several potential positives that could support the stock. These include faster AWS growth as capacity improves, better AI positioning driven by management changes and Amazon’s proprietary technologies (such as its own large language model and Trainium chips), and further margin expansion in the Retail segment that could push profit growth above peers. He also points to multiple drivers in Retail—from grocery and agentic AI to enhancements and potential fee increases in Prime—combined with what he views as an attractive valuation compared with the company’s history, leaving room for multiple expansion if execution on AI and cloud improves.
Still, the bullish case is not without risks. Post warns that if Amazon’s AI capabilities continue to trail rivals, AWS could lose further cloud market share, and heavy capacity investments could pressure margins. Competitive agentic AI offerings might also hurt Retail traffic or disrupt high-margin advertising revenue, while continued share gains by Shopify and Walmart could weigh on Retail growth. Tough comparisons in online retail in 2026 may further slow growth. Even so, with Amazon trading around 11x Street 2027 EBITDA and 25x GAAP EPS—slightly above Microsoft but below Alphabet and Walmart—Post argues there is room for valuation upside if AWS can reaccelerate and strengthen its AI credentials. Never miss a stock rating. Find all the latest ratings on TipRanks’ Top Wall Street Analysts page.