Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) Shares Gap Down on Disappointing Earnings

Shares of Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) gapped down prior to trading on Friday following a weaker than expected earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $222.69, but opened at $202.70. Amazon.com shares last traded at $202.24, with a volume of 30,061,311 shares trading hands.

The e-commerce giant reported $1.95 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.97 by ($0.02). Amazon.com had a return on equity of 23.62% and a net margin of 11.06%.The firm had revenue of $213.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $211.02 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.86 EPS. Amazon.com’s revenue was up 13.6% compared to the same quarter last year.

Key Headlines Impacting Amazon.com

Here are the key news stories impacting Amazon.com this week:

• Positive Sentiment: AWS momentum and margin strength — AWS revenue topped expectations and operating margins widened, supporting Amazon’s long‑term cloud profitability thesis. AWS beats
• Positive Sentiment: Top‑line beat and core business resilience — Q4 net sales rose ~14% to $213.4B, showing strong retail and advertising performance that underpins cash generation for investments. Press release
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst responses mixed but many remain constructive — Several firms trimmed price targets or adjusted modeling for heavier AI capex, while a number of analysts reiterated Buy/Outperform ratings citing AWS and long‑term AI upside. Analyst notes
• Negative Sentiment: Huge $200B 2026 capex guide shocked the market — Management said capex will jump materially (largely for AI data centers, chips, robotics and satellites), rekindling investor fear about near‑term cash flow, margins and the scale of the AI buildout. That guidance triggered heavy selling. Zacks: capex shock
• Negative Sentiment: Small EPS miss amplified by market risk‑off — Reported EPS missed by a hair (reported $1.95 vs. ~$1.97 consensus), and in the current environment even marginal misses + aggressive spending plans produce outsized stock moves. Blockonomi: earnings reaction
• Negative Sentiment: Broad tech/AI sell‑off amplified the move — Amazon’s capex news arrived amid heightened market sensitivity to AI spending across Big Tech, producing outsized volatility and premarket/after‑hours declines. Reuters: market reaction

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $300.00 price target on Amazon.com and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. President Capital upped their target price on shares of Amazon.com from $280.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. Rothschild & Co Redburn lowered their price target on shares of Amazon.com from $250.00 to $230.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Arete Research boosted their price objective on shares of Amazon.com from $264.00 to $283.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $300.00 price objective (up from $275.00) on shares of Amazon.com in a research report on Friday, October 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifty-three have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Amazon.com presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $288.63.

Insider Transactions at Amazon.com

In related news, CEO Douglas J. Herrington sold 4,784 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $232.71, for a total value of $1,113,284.64. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 498,182 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $115,931,933.22. This trade represents a 0.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Keith Brian Alexander sold 900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $233.00, for a total value of $209,700.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 7,170 shares in the company, valued at $1,670,610. This represents a 11.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 47,061 shares of company stock valued at $10,351,262 in the last ninety days. 9.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Amazon.com

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in Amazon.com during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,438,011,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Amazon.com during the first quarter worth $11,674,091,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Amazon.com by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 849,721,601 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock valued at $186,420,422,000 after buying an additional 17,447,045 shares during the period. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Amazon.com by 22,085.8% in the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 12,177,557 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock valued at $2,671,634,000 after buying an additional 12,122,668 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Amazon.com by 21.3% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 57,908,424 shares of the e-commerce giant’s stock valued at $11,017,657,000 after buying an additional 10,176,835 shares in the last quarter. 72.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Amazon.com Price Performance

The company has a 50 day moving average of $233.97 and a 200 day moving average of $229.91. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The firm has a market cap of $2.16 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.52, a P/E/G ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.37.

About Amazon.com

Amazon.com, Inc is a diversified technology and retail company best known for its e-commerce marketplace and broad portfolio of consumer and enterprise services. Founded by Jeff Bezos in 1994 and headquartered in Seattle, Washington, the company launched as an online bookseller and expanded into a global retail platform that sells products directly to consumers and provides a marketplace for third-party sellers. Over time Amazon has grown beyond retail into areas including cloud computing, digital media, devices and logistics.

Key businesses and offerings include Amazon’s online marketplace and fulfillment services, the Amazon Prime membership program (which bundles expedited shipping with streaming and other benefits), Amazon Web Services (AWS) which supplies on-demand cloud computing and storage to businesses and public-sector customers, and a range of content and advertising services such as Prime Video and Amazon Advertising.