It’s the busiest stretch of the year for online retailers, and Amazon (AMZN) appears to have handled it better than most. After reviewing holiday shopping data, top Bank of America analyst Justin Post reiterated his Buy rating on the stock and raised his price target to $303 from $227.35, pointing to about 33% upside from current levels.
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Why Amazon Pulled Ahead
The biggest standout was speed. Amazon delivered orders in about 2.7 days on average, well ahead of peers, and had nearly all of the items tracked in the survey available for purchase. Many products also qualified for one-day or two-day shipping, which can make a big difference when shoppers are racing holiday deadlines.
Pricing was closer. Walmart (WMT) edged Amazon by a small margin on a limited set of items sold on both platforms. However, Bank of America noted that the savings were modest and often came with longer delivery times or fewer items in stock.
For Post, that trade-off helps explain why Amazon continues to come out ahead during peak demand. Its large fulfillment network and heavy use of third-party sellers that ship through Amazon warehouses allow it to keep delivery times short, even when order volumes surge.
It is worth noting that Post ranks 55 out of more than 10,000 analysts tracked by TipRanks. He has a success rate of 68%, with an average return per rating of 24.4% over a one-year timeframe.
Is AMZN a Good Stock to Buy Now?
On TipRanks, AMZN stock commands a Strong Buy consensus rating based on 42 unanimous Buys from Wall Street analysts. Also, the average Amazon price target of $296.12 implies 29.63% upside risk from current levels.
