By
Chimamanda U. Martha
March 11th, 2024
Amazon (AMZN) stock failed last month’s breakout above 18-month resistance. Even so, it could make a final stand at rising trendline support near $1,850, which has narrowly aligned with the 200-day EMA.
On Friday last week, Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ: AMZN) closed at $1,883.75, marking a -0.03% fall from the previous day. At the time of writing, at 7:00 am ET, the stocks were down even more. They were trading 0,6% lower in the premarket. The price was $1,872.40.
Prior to today’s trading, shares of the online retailer had gained 0.73% in January. This has outpaced the Retail-Wholesale sector’s loss of 3.38% and the S&P 500‘s loss of 8.05% in that time.
Since Amazon is nearing its earnings release, the investors have been turning all eyes on it. It is expected that earnings per share amounts to $6.43, down 9.31% from the prior-year quarter.
Zacks Equity Research Pretty Optimistic about EPS
Amazon’s full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are saying will amount to $27.63 per share and revenue will be $334.32 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of +20.08% and +19.18%, respectively.
Be it as it may, the truth is that AMZN stock (like all the rest for that matter) started to fall amid the wide-spreading coronavirus. COVID-19 spreads at the very fast pace and its main focus isn’t in China anymore. Italy reported a 50% increase in coronavirus cases Sunday, as the US further restricted travel and the famed La Scala opera house closed.
Italy’s Civil Protection Authority reported the country now has 1,694 confirmed coronavirus cases, up from 1,128 confirmed cases on Saturday. Thirty-four people have died.
Two Amazon Employees Infected with Coronavirus
Just on Sunday, Amazon confirmed that its two employees in Milan, Italy, have contracted the coronavirus and are under quarantine.
Company spokesman Dan Perlet said that the company is supporting the affected employees who were in Milan and are now in quarantine. On the other hand, the world’s biggest online retailer said it was unaware of any U.S. employees who had contracted the virus. On Friday, Amazon told employees to stop non-essential travel, within the United States and beyond. The company also confirmed on Sunday it is moving some recruiting interviews to video.
Amazon Stocked Up and Ready
And it’s not just recruiting interviews. We already wrote of how Amazon decided to place bigger orders on a more frequent basis for Chinese goods being shipped to the U.S.
The company is reportedly ordering six to eight weeks’ worth of inventory on certain Chinese-made products, much longer than the average two to three weeks’ worth of inventory it typically keeps on hand.
Also, the company recently opened its first grocery store to pilot the use of the retailer’s cashierless “Just Walk Out” technology that has previously powered 25 Amazon Go convenience stores in a handful of major U.S. metros. It basically allows customers to shop for everyday grocery items like fresh produce, meat, seafood, bakery items, household essentials, dairy, easy-to-make dinner options, beer, wine and spirits, and more.
Kroger and Walmart Trying to Compete
Amazon is definitely not the only one who is trying to reinvent the grocery experience. Kroger went into the collaboration with U.K.-based digital grocer Ocado to build automated customer fulfillment centers to facilitate home delivery of groceries.
And since Amazon became famous for its Prime program, some other companies decided they want the piece of that cake too. Walmart Inc (NYSE: WMT) confirmed it will be launching a membership program, Walmart+ but the question is will it succeed. The time (and coronavirus spread) will show.