Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN) stock is down 6.4% to trade at $219.15 at last check, despite better-than-expected second-quarter results, after the e-commerce giant issued a lackluster operating income outlook for the current quarter. The company announced plans to raise spending on artificial intelligence (AI) data centers, despite revenue expansion for Amazon Web Services (AWS) leaving much to be desired.
Shares are brushing off no fewer than 10 price-target hikes, including one from Rosenblatt Securities to $297 from $288, though a couple of analysts chimed in with price-target cuts as well. Analysts are still overwhelmingly bullish on AMZN, with 53 of 54 in coverage carrying "buy" or better ratings, while the 12-month consensus target objective of $257.51 is now a 17.5% premium to current levels.
AMZN is on track for its biggest single-day percentage loss since April 3 and earlier gapped to its lowest level since June. Shares are also breaking below the ascending 40-day moving average for the first time since early May, and could today snap their six-week win streak. Longer term, the stock sports a 19% year-over-year lead.
Drilling down to today's options activity, 533,000 calls and 228,000 puts have exchanged hands so far, which is 4 times the volume typically seen at this point. Most popular is the weekly 8/1 220-strike call, where new positions are currently being bought to open.
