What to Expect When Amazon Reports Earnings After the Close

By Chris Lange Updated Jan 12, 9:42AM EST · Published Jul 27, 11:55AM EDT

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What to Expect When Amazon Reports Earnings After the Close — © Wikimedia Commons (Steve Jurvetson)

Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) is scheduled to release its most recent quarterly results after the markets close on Thursday. The Thomson Reuters consensus estimate is $1.42 in earnings per share (EPS) and $37.18 billion in revenue. This e-commerce giant reportedly had $1.78 in EPS and $30.4 billion in revenue for the second quarter last year.

This company has been very busy over the past month. Most recently, Amazon entered into a strategic partnership with Sears to integrate its full line of Kenmore Smart appliances with Amazon’s Alexa. It’s no doubt that Sears will benefit from the relationship as more customers experience their quality services for Kenmore products purchased on Amazon’s expansive online marketplace. Although some analysts believe this is only a slight positive for Amazon.

Amazon also recently announced that it will be moving into the same space as Blue Apron for delivering prepared food kits. Amazon filed a trademark application on the phrase: “We do the prep, you be the chef.” The e-commerce giant said the phrase covers “Prepared food kits composed of meat, poultry, fish, seafood, fruit and/or and vegetables and also including sauces or seasonings, ready for cooking and assembly as a meal,” according to a report at MarketWatch.

However perhaps the biggest move Amazon has made ahead of this earnings report was the acquisition of Whole Foods. Under the terms of the agreement, Amazon will acquire Whole Foods for $42 per share (a premium of 27% from the previous close) in an all-cash transaction valued at roughly $13.7 billion, including the net debt of Whole Foods. The transaction is still subject to shareholder approval, but the parties expect it to close in the second half of 2017.

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A few analysts weighed in on Amazon ahead of the earnings report:

Maxim has a Buy rating with a $1,300 price target.
Cantor Fitzgerald has a Buy rating with a $1,050 price target.
Macquarie has a Buy rating.
KeyCorp has a Hold rating.
Deutsche Bank has a Buy rating with a $1,135 price target.
Robert Baird has an Outperform rating.
Piper Jaffray has a Buy rating with a $1,200 price target.
Cowen has an Outperform rating.
Sanford Bernstein has a Buy rating.
Credit Suisse has an Outperform rating with a $1,100 price target.

Excluding Thursday’s move, Amazon has outperformed the broad markets, with the stock up over 40% year to date. Over the past 52 weeks, the stock is up closer to 43%.

Shares of Amazon were last seen up over 2% at $1,077.90, with a consensus analyst price target of $1,117.73 and a 52-week range of $710.10 to $1,078.97.

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About the Author Chris Lange →

Chris Lange is a writer for 24/7 Wall St., based in Houston. He has covered financial markets over the past decade with an emphasis on healthcare, tech, and IPOs. During this time, he has published thousands of articles with insightful analysis across these complex fields. Currently, Lange's focus is on military and geopolitical topics.

Lange's work has been quoted or mentioned in Forbes, The New York Times, Business Insider, USA Today, MSN, Yahoo, The Verge, Vice, The Intelligencer, Quartz, Nasdaq, The Motley Fool, Fox Business, International Business Times, The Street, Seeking Alpha, Barron’s, Benzinga, and many other major publications.

A graduate of Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas, Lange majored in business with a particular focus on investments. He has previous experience in the banking industry and startups.