Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) saw the AMZN stock price jump over 2.5% through mid-morning trading Tuesday on the back of a relatively staggering amount of positive news.
The positive news for Amazon stock included the expected launch of multiple new Alexa devices, AMZN’s strong showing at the Emmys and a possible banking push.
AMZN Stock: Recent News
Amazon joined Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) not too long ago as just the second publicly listed U.S. company to be valued at $1 trillion. AMZN stock had slipped slightly since then. But Amazon’s brief decline didn’t last long and investors seem to have reacted positively to a CNBC report that said the e-commerce giant is ready to roll out new Alexa devices.
Jeff Bezos’ company plans to introduce “at least 8” voice-controlled devices, which are said to range from a microwave to a subwoofer. The new devices will either have the Alexa voice assistant built into the product or they will be Alexa-enabled, and they could be officially revealed by the end of the month. The prevalence of voice assistants and voice-controlled devices has continued to grow, with everyone from Apple to Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG, NASDAQ:GOOGL) all offering their own.
AMZN Emmys Success
Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) boasted the most Emmy nominations this year, dethroning HBO’s insane run at the top. In the end, the streaming TV giant took home 23 awards, which tied HBO for the top spot. Meanwhile, AMZN continued to prove that its push into original content is working. The company grabbed eight awards, which helped it tie for fifth with CNN.
Amazon Prime became the first streaming service to win best comedy for its The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. Investors in Amazon stock should welcome these awards because hit series that receive critical acclaim have helped HBO become a dominant player in TV for nearly two decades. Going forward, AMZN is poised to spend more money to roll out television shows and movies, while also diving deeper into live sports.
Banking
Reports that Amazon was in talks with banks, including J.P. Morgan Chase to create a checking account service for Prime customers first began to surface in March. Now, a new survey from consultant giant Bain & Co found that roughly two-thirds of Amazon Prime members would be willing to test a free online Amazon bank account.
It is worth noting that only 37% of non-Amazon customers said they would be willing to try an account with the e-commerce giant. Nonetheless, the 6,000-person survey helps highlight just how important online and digital banking and payments have become. The likes of PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) and Square (NYSE:SQ) continue to drive the big banks to offer more peer-to-peer and digital-first platforms. And Amazon’s entrance would mark yet another industry and potential revenue stream for the e-commerce company to draw from that would likely help support another venture down the road.
Bottom Line on Amazon Stock
AMZN stock is currently a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) based, for the most part, on its strong positive upward earnings estimate revision trends for the current quarter, as well as for fiscal 2018 and 2019. Plus, the news today mostly highlights the firm’s newer growth projects. Meanwhile, Amazon is still an industry leader in cloud computing, coming in far above second-place Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT). And the company’s core e-commerce business looks as strong as ever.
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