AMZN
The pre-earnings drumroll
Amazon is heading into earnings week with a fresh vote of confidence from BNP Paribas, which kept its Outperform rating and $345 price target on the stock. That’s basically Wall Street’s version of saying: “Yeah, the buffet costs more, but you’re still getting your money’s worth.”
Why the bulls are circling
The firm thinks the real action is in AWS, where it sees second-quarter growth accelerating to 33% to 35%, ahead of the Street’s roughly 31% estimate. It also expects Amazon to show better-than-expected operating income, while ad growth, Prime Day demand, and retail execution all help keep the story from getting too single-threaded.
AI spending: the expensive hobby that might pay off
Here’s the catch: Amazon is still spending like a company convinced the AI future is built out of gold-plated server racks. BNP Paribas expects investors to zoom in on capital spending, especially as data center component costs rise and the company keeps feeding its AI infrastructure habit. The bank also thinks Amazon may need to guide toward the high end of its third-quarter outlook.
What you’re watching next
The earnings report itself is expected around July 30, and the market will be listening for:
- AWS growth and whether the cloud engine is really re-accelerating
- Whether ad dollars are still flowing like a tap left on
- How much more capex Amazon is willing to swallow for AI
- Whether retail margins stay sturdy after Prime Day
Big picture: Amazon doesn’t need to be perfect here — just convincing enough that the AI spending spree is turning into a future profit machine, not a very expensive science project.