The Amazon stock price soared 12% to $669.92 today (Friday) after trouncing earnings estimates and posting its fourth straight quarterly profit. Plus, the company announced that sales soared 28% in the quarter.
This is a huge move for the Amazon stock price, but we think it's just the start. In fact, we see Amazon stock as one of the best long-term investments on the market.
But before we get to our outlook on the Amazon stock price in 2016, here's what every investor needs to know from the earnings report...
After Thursday's close, Amazon.com Inc. (Nasdaq: AMZN) reported Q1 2016 net income of $1.07 per share on $29.1 billion in revenue. That was up significantly from a loss of $0.12 per share on revenue of $22.7 billion in the same quarter last year. Those figures topped expectations for EPS of $0.58 on $27.9 billion in revenue.
Operating income surged to $1.1 billion. That was much higher than the $255 million in the prior-year period. Analysts were looking for about $566.1 million.
Even in the face of growing competition, Amazon Web Services saw its sales spike 64% to $2.57 billion. That also beat expectations of $2.54 billion.
Sales comfortably beat estimates in its North America and international units. Sales in North America rose 27% to $16.99 billion from $13.41 billion year over year (YOY). That was better than estimates of $16.5 billion.
International revenue increased 24% to $9.57 billion from $7.75 billion, also beating expectations of $8.96 billion.
Strong forward guidance is another reason the Amazon stock price today is soaring...
For Q2, Amazon projects net sales of $28 billion to $30.5 billion. That would mark substantial growth of 21% to 32% YOY. Wall Street expects $28.32 billion in revenue.
Amazon forecasts operating income will fall between $375 million and $975 million. Wall Street has an estimate of $860.5 million.
The Amazon earnings numbers were undoubtedly bullish, and today's AMZN stock price surge is warranted. And the best news for investors is that there is no end in sight for the Amazon stock price rally. Here's why...
[mmpazkzone name="in-story" network="9794" site="307044" id="137008" type="4"]Money Morning Director of Technology & Venture Capital Michael A. Robinson credits Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and his vision for turning the company into the tech, entertainment, and retail giant it is today.
Bezos' vision will continue to drive the Amazon stock price higher. Amazon is gaining a foothold in the Internet of Things (Iot) space, spending more on video content, speeding up its delivery process, and expanding into new territories.
A number of analysts upped their Amazon stock price targets following the impressive quarter.
At a recent $658.05, the Amazon stock price is up 53.51% over the last year.
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