Expansion Will Keep Powering Amazon.com, Inc. Stock Higher

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Amazon stock - Expansion Will Keep Powering Amazon.com, Inc. Stock Higher

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Here’s an interesting statistic: Of the highly followed and much loved FAANNG group, only Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX), and Nvidia Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) are at all-time highs. That is pretty impressive for those three stocks, considering the S&P 500 is 5% off its all-time high and the NASDAQ 100 is 3% off its all-time high.

What does that mean? Investors really believe in the growth narratives at AMZN, NFLX, and NVDA. Even a depressed market can’t really knock down these hyper-growth tech giants by much.

Moreover, since the whole market sell-off started in late January, the S&P 500 is down 5% and the NASDAQ 100 is down 3%. But NFLX and NVDA stocks are up about 3%. Amazon stock? It’s up more than 5% in that time frame.

Broad takeaway? Investor demand for Amazon stock remains robust, even as the stock makes fresh all-time highs and the broader market is plagued by inflation concerns.

Consequently, I don’t think it’s time to shy away from Amazon stock. Boosted by strengthening secular growth catalysts, AMZN stock will keep heading higher.

Why Amazon Stock Has More Room To Run

We all know the current growth narrative at AMZN.

The company is the leading player in a burgeoning digital commerce industry. AMZN also runs the biggest cloud business in the world, and cloud data-center market growth is only ramping. Moreover, AMZN is expanding its offline retail presence and making a huge push into the grocery market via Whole Foods.

Between those three growth runways alone, it’s easy to see why investors are pushing up AMZN stock.

But the reason why Amazon stock has more room to run has to do with what Jeff Bezos and Company are doing to grow their business.

First, there is the whole delivery business. AMZN is making a huge push into the logistics and delivery markets, and is threatening to upend traditional shipping giants United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS), FedEx Corporation (NYSE:FDX), and the United States Postal Service.

I’ve been saying this would happen for a while. Amazon has been quietly building out its own delivery service for the past several years via leasing planes and building out delivery logistics hubs. Plus, it’s within Amazon’s playbook to build an in-house service, and then sell that service to other businesses. This is how Amazon Web Services got its start.

It looks like Shipping with Amazon will follow in Amazon Web Services’ footsteps. This is a big deal. Logistics is a multi-trillion dollar market globally, benefiting from secular growth in digital commerce. If Shipping with Amazon takes off, then Amazon stock could add tens of billions in value. After all, UPS has a market cap of $90 billion and FDX has a market cap of $65 billion.

Second, there is the international expansion opportunity. Amazon is planning to lease a massive warehouse in Brazil to support an aggressive e-commerce push in the country. That is a pretty big move. Not only is Brazil Latin America’s largest retail market, but it’s digital commerce market is both rapidly growing and still relatively small.

Brazil’s digital commerce sales have doubled in the past four years, but even with that robust growth, digital sales still only represent 5% of the total retail market. In the U.S., digital sales represent roughly 10% of total retail sales.

Amazon is hoping that as internet usage in Brazil spreads, digital commerce penetration will bump up from 5% to 10%. If so, and Amazon wins some of that market, that could also add tens of billion in value to Amazon stock.

Third, Amazon might gradually morph into an NVDA competitor. AMZN is reportedly developing AI chips to power Echo and Alexa. That move itself could save costs and boost margins. But again, it is in Amazon’s wheelhouse to develop something for themselves, and then turn around and sell that service or product to other businesses. From this perspective, I think it’s likely that AMZN becomes a seller of AI chips in the not-too-distant future.

Again, that could add tens of billions of value (it not more) to Amazon stock.

Bottom Line on Amazon Stock

Overall, beyond the burgeoning domestic retail business and booming cloud business, Amazon has an opportunity to adds upwards of $100 billion in incremental value through various ancillary initiatives, including rolling out a logistics network, tapping into Latin American digital commerce, and selling AI chips.

Because of this robust growth pipeline, it’s tough to see Amazon stock going anywhere but up from here.

Consequently, long AMZN remains the smart move.

As of this writing, Luke Lango was long AMZN, NFLX, and NVDA. 

 


Article printed from InvestorPlace Media, https://investorplace.com/2018/02/innovation-expansion-power-amazon-stock-higher/.

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