Amazon.com breached a new 52-week high of $1.554.88 on Thursday as news of its intention to create more than 1,500 full-time jobs in Missouri fulfillment center went public. The e-commerce giant, with its commitment to Whole Foods of $22 billion in future purchases, added to the promising nature of the stock. It looks like shares may move even higher.
Since the start of this year, Amazon stock is continuing its upward swing. In 2017, Amazon shares climbed about 56%. And since 2018 broke, the shares jumped 32.61% with an average volume trading of 2.11 million.
When taking into analysts recommendation trends, almost 40 analysts of the total 46 recommended a Buy or Strong Buy rating and 4 rated a Hold rating. In the past four quarters, the company’s earnings topped estimates for three times.
For the upcoming March quarter, Street analysts are expecting the company to report a drop in earnings despite a sales growth of 39.60%. This is due to the company’s first-quarter guidance for operating income to be between $300 million and $1 billion, compared to $1 billion in the previous year quarter.
The recently completed fourth quarter of Amazon showed a provisional tax benefit due to the U.S. Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, driving earnings higher.
Veterans on the roster
In 2017, Amazon shipped more than 5 billion items with Prime worldwide. And with more items shipped, comes more expansion!
Amazon has been on the hiring spree, with nearly 130,000 employees hired globally in 2017 excluding acquisitions.
Amazon now employs more than 17,500 veterans and military spouses across the U.S., and plans to hire over 10,000 more by 2021. And, Amazon expects to invest over $5 billion and create as many as 50,000 high-paying jobs at its second headquarters.
Amazon has been on the hiring spree, with nearly 130,000 employees hired globally in 2017 excluding acquisitions.
So what is Amazon’s intention concerning the $19.33 billion cash held during the fourth quarter of 2017? Is Amazon planning to buy big giants or pay dividends to shareholders?
It can be inferred from the fourth quarter results that the company was keen on investing activities, even purchasing more marketable securities. It is still not known that Amazon could be using this cash to venturing out for selling financial products or buying an insurance company.
But given Bezos’ appetite, anything is possible. It’s going to be an exciting year ahead for the stock.