On the surface, it may not look like a great time to be e-retailing giant Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) right now. Consumers are pulling in their wallets and even with the holiday season approaching, there’s a clear pallor of recession in the air. In addition, with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) taking aim, that could create even more problems ahead. But one analyst is already backing the truck up, ready to buy hand over fist if any weakness shows itself.
That analyst is Scott Devitt, who, along with his team at Wedbush, made it clear that any sign of trouble from the FTC would have him in a buying position. The FTC is already preparing an antitrust lawsuit, and—depending on how far it goes—may ultimately see Amazon broken up into several smaller companies. Devitt et al don’t believe it will go that far, but if it goes anywhere near that far, Devitt and team recommend buying with both hands.
And they’re not alone, either; other analysts are taking a closer look and finding Amazon well worth the buy. Amazon has been hard at work picking up other operations and putting them to work under its own umbrella, in everything from movies to telemedicine and beyond. Of course, its online retailing is still a monster draw, even with a more cautious consumer. Let he or she among us who does not have a package waiting (or had one recently delivered) cast the first logoed box. And best of all, Amazon’s first quarterly loss prompted it to cut costs and push back to profitability, which reports suggest it’s well on its way to doing.
Analysts, meanwhile, are almost all in. With 39 Buy ratings and one Hold, Amazon stock is almost unanimously a Strong Buy by analyst consensus. Meanwhile, Amazon stock offers 24.9% upside potential with its average price target of $175.63.
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