Online retailer extraordinaire Amazon (AMZN) has been delivering the goods for years in a wide range of industries. But did you know it is having a huge problem with James Bond? No, Jeff Bezos has not taken to ominously stroking a cat while plotting global domination. But as it turns out, Amazon is a much bigger part of why we have not seen a new James Bond movie in years. Investors took the news shaken, but not overly stirred, sending Amazon shares up fractionally in Friday afternoon’s trading.
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Back when Amazon picked up MGM, it also got the rights to release the James Bond series. The problem is that, along with those rights, Amazon also got to deal with the Broccoli family, who has pretty much permanent creative control over the works. The original James Bond titles were produced by Albert Broccoli, and Albert, upon his death, passed down control to daughter Barbara. And Barbara, noted a Wall Street Journal report, does not trust Amazon.
Considering that, when asked, Barbara described Amazon as “…idiots”—she actually used stronger language than that; I have removed the expletives—it is little surprise that Barbara has no interest in working with Amazon here. But Barbara is not just an Amazon hater; she has already turned down video games, television series, and even an actual James Bond-themed casino. Which means that a new Bond movie may be a long time in coming unless one side or the other is willing to back down.
Easier Fire
But Amazon has other properties to work with, like its Fire TV system. And a new report from Amazon itself details what Amazon is doing to make Fire TV easier to use for people with disabilities. Several new features are being added in a bid to get Amazon to more users, which should ultimately prove welcome.
For instance, hearing aid users can now pair with Fire TV devices to transmit the audio right over the devices. This means hearing aid users will be able to hear the audio from Fire TV right over their devices instead of having to pick up the content via ambient room noise. Plus, QR codes will now come with raised dots around them, making them easier to find for the blind or those with low vision. That means quicker setup and troubleshooting access for those users.
Is Amazon a Good Long-Term Investment?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Strong Buy consensus rating on AMZN stock based on 45 Buys and one Hold assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 46.55% rally in its share price over the past year, the average AMZN price target of $245.10 per share implies 9.13% upside potential.
