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Bloomberg
E-commerce companies have emerged as a favourite play on Wall Street during the coronavirus pandemic, amid a growing consensus that upcoming results will reveal a potentially permanent shift in consumer behaviour
towards online shopping.
While online sales have long been growing their market share as a percentage of overall retail spending, the trend has been accelerated as shutdowns force closures at brick-and-mortar rivals. Analysts have said that the higher demand is likely to outlast the pandemic, especially in categories like groceries, which previously had less traction online.
Amazon.com Inc. has been perhaps the most high-profile winner of the current environment, with the company hiring tens of thousands of workers to meet demand.
As a result of that higher demand, Wall Street has been growing steadily more optimistic about its prospects.
The company is scheduled to report first-quarter results next week, and analysts are looking for revenue of about $73 billion, a consensus that has risen by 2.1% over the past quarter. The average price target on the stock is $2,479, up about $300 from the end of 2019.