Key Analyst Insights on Microsoft, Amazon.com, and Philip Morris
Written by Emily J. Thompson, Senior Investment Analyst
Updated: Sep 05 2025
0mins
Should l Buy AMZN?
Source: NASDAQ.COM
Zacks Research Daily Highlights: The report features research on 16 major stocks, including Microsoft, Amazon, and Philip Morris, along with insights on micro-cap stocks like Preformed Line Products and Security Federal, emphasizing unique research on smaller companies.
Microsoft's Performance: Microsoft has seen a 21.2% stock increase year-to-date, driven by AI momentum, Azure growth, and strong Office 365 demand, although it faces challenges from high operating expenses and cloud competition.
Amazon's Growth and Challenges: Amazon's stock rose 36.7% over the past year, supported by Prime and AWS growth, but it faces margin pressures due to heavy AI investments and weak third-quarter income guidance.
Philip Morris and Micro-Cap Stocks: Philip Morris has benefited from strong pricing and smoke-free product growth, while micro-cap stocks like Preformed Line Products and Security Federal show promising performance despite facing various operational risks.
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Analyst Views on AMZN
Wall Street analysts forecast AMZN stock price to rise over the next 12 months. According to Wall Street analysts, the average 1-year price target for AMZN is 294.69 USD with a low forecast of 250.00 USD and a high forecast of 340.00 USD. However, analyst price targets are subjective and often lag stock prices, so investors should focus on the objective reasons behind analyst rating changes, which better reflect the company's fundamentals.
47 Analyst Rating
46 Buy
1 Hold
0 Sell
Strong Buy
Current: 222.690
Low
250.00
Averages
294.69
High
340.00
Current: 222.690
Low
250.00
Averages
294.69
High
340.00
About AMZN
Amazon.com, Inc. provides a range of products and services to customers. The products offered through its stores include merchandise and content it has purchased for resale and products offered by third-party sellers. The Company’s segments include North America, International and Amazon Web Services (AWS). It serves consumers through its online and physical stores and focuses on selection, price, and convenience. Customers access its offerings through its websites, mobile apps, Alexa, devices, streaming, and physically visiting its stores. It also manufactures and sells electronic devices, including Kindle, Fire tablet, Fire TV, Echo, Ring, Blink, and eero, and develops and produces media content. It serves developers and enterprises of all sizes, including start-ups, government agencies, and academic institutions, through AWS, which offers a set of on-demand technology services, including compute, storage, database, analytics, and machine learning, and other services.
About the author
Emily J. Thompson
Emily J. Thompson, a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) with 12 years in investment research, graduated with honors from the Wharton School. Specializing in industrial and technology stocks, she provides in-depth analysis for Intellectia’s earnings and market brief reports.
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- Capital Expenditure Forecast: CEO Andy Jassy announced a staggering $200 billion in expected capital expenditures for 2026, significantly exceeding Wall Street's forecast of $150 billion, which raised investor concerns and triggered a sell-off.
- Market Reaction: The stock price of Amazon plummeted 12% over the past week due to worries about future spending, reflecting a cautious investor sentiment despite robust demand in AI and cloud computing sectors.
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- Earnings Growth: Amazon's Q4 revenue surged 14% to $213 billion, with operating income rising 18% to $25 billion, showcasing broad growth across retail, advertising, and cloud sectors, yet this strong performance failed to reassure investors.
- Capital Expenditure Forecast: CEO Andy Jassy announced a staggering $200 billion in expected capital expenditures for 2026, significantly exceeding Wall Street's forecast of $150 billion, which raised investor concerns and triggered a sell-off.
- Market Reaction: The stock price of Amazon plummeted 12% over the past week due to worries about future spending, reflecting a cautious investor sentiment despite robust demand in AI and cloud computing sectors.
- Investor Confidence Shaken: Although Amazon enjoys strong demand across various sectors, the aggressive expansion plans have unsettled investors, leading to a decline in market confidence that could impact short-term stock performance.
See More
Big Tech Loses Over $1 Trillion in Valuation
- Big Tech Valuation Loss: According to FactSet, major tech companies collectively lost over $1 trillion in valuation over the past week, with Amazon alone shedding more than $300 billion, indicating a significant decline in market confidence that could impact future investment decisions.
- Sex Crime Scandal Exposure: Prominent Silicon Valley figures, including Google co-founder Sergey Brin and LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman, have been linked to files related to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, which may have long-term reputational consequences for their companies and exacerbate public trust issues in the tech industry.
- Japanese Election Outcome: Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party secured a supermajority in the recent election, reinstating Sanae Takaichi as Prime Minister, which grants her broad authority to boost spending and suspend certain food taxes; this result has bolstered Japanese stocks and strengthened the yen to 156.88 against the dollar, reflecting renewed investor confidence.
- U.S. Market Rebound: The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed above 50,000 for the first time, marking a strong market rebound, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite rose by 1.97% and 2.18%, respectively, a trend that could attract more investors back into the market and drive economic recovery.
See More
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- Employee Open Letter: A total of 1,002 full-time employees at Google have signed an open letter urging the company to sever ties with federal immigration enforcement agencies, reflecting strong dissatisfaction with the lack of transparency regarding the company's contracts and technology usage with the federal government.
- Transparency Demands: The letter highlights that Google has failed to provide internal transparency about its collaboration with federal agencies, prompting employees to call on leadership, particularly CEO Sundar Pichai, for greater disclosure to enhance internal trust and accountability.
- Request to Withdraw Technology: Employees are demanding that Google withdraw its technology from all work associated with the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and Customs and Border Protection, aiming to protect workers and communities from immigration enforcement actions and emphasizing social responsibility.
- Advocacy for Safety Measures: Additionally, employees are advocating for safety measures to protect workers and are calling for an all-hands meeting to address these concerns, indicating a heightened awareness of corporate policies and social responsibilities among the workforce.
See More
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- Market Sentiment Improvement: The CNN Money Fear & Greed Index rose to 45 on Friday, entering the 'Neutral' zone from a previous reading of 34.2, indicating a significant improvement in market sentiment that could boost investor confidence.
- Dow Jones Surge: The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped over 1,200 points during Friday's session, closing at 50,115.67 and marking its first breach of the 50,000-point milestone, showcasing a strong market rebound that may attract more capital inflows.
- S&P 500 Strong Performance: The S&P 500 rose by 1.97% to close at 6,932.30, with sectors like industrials, energy, and information technology recording significant gains, reflecting positive signals of economic recovery that could drive corporate earnings growth.
- Consumer Confidence Boost: The University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index increased by 0.9 points to 57.3 in February, surpassing market estimates of 55, indicating enhanced consumer confidence in the economic outlook, which may stimulate consumer spending and economic growth.
See More
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- Election Impact: Japan's Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and her ruling LDP secured a supermajority in the election, controlling over two-thirds of the Lower House, which allows her to freely pursue an agenda of increased spending and suspension of certain food taxes, likely stimulating economic growth further.
- Market Surge: Following the election results, Japanese stocks reached a record high, with the yen strengthening to 156.88 per dollar, reflecting renewed investor confidence and indicating positive market expectations regarding Takaichi's policies.
- U.S. Market Rebound: Major U.S. indexes rebounded post-election, with the S&P 500 rising 1.97% and the Nasdaq Composite climbing 2.18%, driven by strong performances from tech stocks like Nvidia and Oracle, which bolstered global investor confidence.
- Private Credit Concerns: The private credit market faces renewed uncertainty as AI pressures software companies, raising investor concerns about borrower business models and potentially increasing default risks, which could impact overall financial stability.
See More
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- Strategic Partnership: STMicroelectronics has established a multi-year, multi-billion dollar collaboration with Amazon Web Services (AWS), positioning itself as a strategic supplier of advanced semiconductor technologies, which is expected to significantly reduce customers' total cost of ownership and accelerate time-to-market for products.
- Warrant Issuance: The collaboration includes the issuance of warrants for up to 24.8 million ST shares to AWS, with vesting tied to payments for ST products and services, thereby strengthening the partnership and aligning interests between the two companies.
- Long-Term Outlook: AWS may exercise the warrants over a seven-year period at an initial exercise price of $28.38 per share, providing STMicroelectronics with a stable revenue stream while offering AWS robust technological support for its computing infrastructure.
- Market Impact Analysis: This collaboration is poised to enhance STMicroelectronics' position in the semiconductor market, particularly in cloud computing and AI, likely attracting more customers and increasing the company's market share, thereby solidifying its leadership in technological innovation.
See More
