AMZN
Prime Day, but make it AI
Bank of America didn’t exactly discover a new universe here, but it did remind investors that Amazon’s annual shopping circus can do more than sell air fryers and phone chargers. The firm reiterated its Buy rating and kept a $310 price target, which implies roughly 30.5% upside from Amazon’s June 18 close of $237.50.
The real prize: training shoppers to talk to Alexa
The big idea is that Prime Day is becoming a giant demo for Alexa for Shopping. Think of it like a retail version of handing everyone a free trial — except the product is an AI assistant that can surface personalized deals, track price history, set alerts, and even auto-buy stuff when it hits your target.
Bank of America thinks that could matter way beyond this week’s sales frenzy:
- Prime Day runs June 23-26 and is expected to drive about $21.6 billion in gross merchandise volume.
- The firm sees $11.6 billion of that coming from first-party sales and $10 billion from third-party sellers.
- It also believes Alexa for Shopping could eventually unlock $200 billion+ in incremental GMV by 2035.
Why investors care
This isn’t just a “look at all the stuff Amazon can sell” story. It’s a margin-and-moat story. If Alexa keeps shoppers inside Amazon’s ecosystem, that can mean better conversion rates, more direct traffic, and a stronger advertising engine — the kind of combo that makes Wall Street perk up like it just heard the word “operating leverage.”
The firm also expects Amazon’s second-quarter revenue to land at or above the high end of its $199 billion guidance, helped by solid retail demand and continued AWS momentum. In other words: Prime Day may be the headline, but the AI assistant is the long game.
Big picture: Amazon is trying to turn shopping into a conversational habit, and if that sticks, Prime Day could end up being less of a one-off sales bonanza and more of a giant customer-acquisition machine.