Amazon Trades at 31.84x Premium P/E: Buy, Sell or Hold the Stock?

Amazon AMZN stock currently trades at a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of hovering between 31.84x and 35.46x, reflecting investor optimism about the company's AI initiatives and cloud computing dominance. While the e-commerce giant delivered robust second-quarter 2025 results that exceeded the Zacks Consensus Estimate, the premium valuation, coupled with intensifying competition in cloud services, suggests investors should exercise patience rather than rushing to establish new positions at current levels.

The company's second-quarter performance demonstrated strong execution across multiple business segments. Revenues climbed 13% year over year to $167.7 billion, surpassing estimates, while earnings per share reached $1.68, significantly beating projections. Amazon Web Services maintained its leadership position with revenues of $30.9 billion, growing 17.5% annually, though this growth rate trailed Microsoft MSFT Azure's 39% and Alphabet GOOGL-owned Google Cloud's 32% expansion during similar periods. The cloud division's operating profit of $10.2 billion represented over half of Amazon's total operating income, underscoring its critical role in driving profitability.

Shares of AMZN have increased 6.7% over the year-to-date period, underperforming the broader Zacks Retail-Wholesale sector and the S&P 500. Amazon’s competitors, Microsoft, Google and Oracle ORCL, have returned 18.4%, 25.3% and 43.2%, respectively.

AMZN Underperforms Sector, Peers YTD

The Accelerating AI Investments Shape Future Trajectory

Amazon's aggressive AI strategy has become increasingly central to its investment thesis. The company announced a second $100 million investment in its GenAI Innovation Center during July 2025, building on its Amazon Bedrock platform that now includes models from OpenAI, Anthropic, and other leading providers. The introduction of Amazon Bedrock AgentCore represents a significant advancement in enterprise AI deployment, offering comprehensive services for building and operating AI agents at scale. These initiatives position Amazon to capture growing enterprise demand for AI infrastructure, though the company faces supply constraints, particularly in power availability for data centers, which could limit near-term growth.

The advertising business emerged as a particularly bright spot, generating $15.7 billion in revenues with 22% year-over-year growth, outpacing both Meta Platforms and Google's advertising growth rates. This diversification beyond core retail and cloud services provides additional revenue streams that support the company's premium valuation. Amazon's retail operations continue expanding with same-day and next-day delivery reaching thousands of smaller U.S. cities, while new generative AI shopping tools enhance customer experience through features like audio product summaries and enhanced product listings.

Valuation Concerns Temper Enthusiasm

Despite operational strengths, Amazon's current valuation raises questions about near-term upside potential. The stock's P/E ratio of approximately 31.84x represents a significant premium to the Zacks Internet - Commerce industry average of 24.72x, though it remains below the company's five-year average of 53.46x. This compression from historical levels reflects market concerns about decelerating AWS growth relative to competitors and uncertainty surrounding capital expenditure requirements for AI infrastructure development.

AMZN’s P/E F12M Ratio Depicts Premium Valuation

Management's guidance for third-quarter revenues between $174 billion and $179.5 billion implies continued growth of 10-13%, with operating income projected between $15.5 billion and $20.5 billion. However, the company's planned $100 billion in capital expenditures for 2025, primarily dedicated to AI and cloud infrastructure, could pressure margins and limit free cash flow generation. The stock's recent volatility, declining over 8% following earnings announcements despite beating expectations, suggests investor skepticism about the sustainability of current growth rates amid rising competition.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2025 earnings is pegged at $6.73 per share, which indicates a jump of 21.7% from the year-ago period.

Amazon.com, Inc. Price and Consensus

Amazon.com, Inc. price-consensus-chart | Amazon.com, Inc. Quote

Strategic Positioning for Patient Investors

For investors evaluating Amazon at current levels, the prudent approach appears to be maintaining existing positions while awaiting more attractive entry points. The company's fundamental strengths remain intact, with dominant positions in e-commerce, cloud computing, and digital advertising providing multiple growth vectors. The extensive AI investments and new service launches, including partnerships with major enterprises like PepsiCo and expanded capabilities in agentic AI systems, position Amazon for long-term value creation.

However, with the stock trading at premium multiples and facing intensifying competition from Microsoft and Google in cloud services, waiting for a pullback toward the 28-30x P/E range would offer better risk-reward dynamics. Potential catalysts for such an opportunity could include broader market corrections, temporary AWS growth deceleration, or margin pressure from sustained AI investments. Patient investors who wait for more favorable valuations while monitoring the company's AI monetization progress and cloud market share trends will likely find better long-term entry points in 2025. AMZN currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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