Amazon.com Inc.
Consumer DiscretionaryThe everything store, plus AWS cloud
$178.22 +1.20% today · Market cap $1.85T
Step 1 · The business
What does it do?
Amazon runs the largest online store in the US and AWS, the biggest cloud computing platform. Ads and Prime subscriptions are growing businesses too.
How it makes money
Share of yearly revenue
Step 2 · The case for
Why might investors care?
What people like about it, then how the business is doing — each number in plain words.
- AWS earns most of the profit
- Huge logistics network that is hard to copy
How it's doing
Revenue growth
Sales grew 11% over the past year.
Large companies often grow 3–10% a year.
Profit margin
It keeps about $8 of profit from every $100 of sales.
Varies by industry: retailers ~3%, software 30%+.
Price / earnings (P/E)
Investors pay $42 for each $1 of yearly profit.
The S&P 500 average is around 20–25×.
Dividend yield
Pays no dividend — profits are reinvested.
Steady, mature companies often pay 2–4%.
Step 3 · The case against
What could go wrong?
The risks people point to, and how bumpy owning it can be.
- Retail margins are thin
- Depends on consumers continuing to spend
Typical yearly swing
In a typical year the price might end ~32% above or below where it started.
The S&P 500 swings about 17% a year.
If the market fell 15%
A broad 15% fall would move AMZN about 15% in MAVEST's scenario model.
A learning scenario, not a forecast.
Debt level
A manageable amount of borrowing.
Step 4 · Your turn
Before you decide
Questions worth answering for yourself — there are no right answers.
- 1At a P/E of 42, investors expect a lot of growth. What would happen to the price if growth disappoints?
- 2If you already own Consumer Discretionary companies, does this add something new — or more of the same?
In your portfolio
You haven't built a practice portfolio yet. Thinking this through starts one, or open Portfolio Lab.
Starts the Decision Coach · practice money · you choose the amount
Price history
Simulated history on mock data. A price move alone isn't a reason to decide.
$178.22+1.20% today
+28.44% over 1Y · Market cap $1.85T
What others are thinking
Reasoning shared by other learners — not tips.
No one has shared research on AMZN yet. Yours could be the first.
Others in Consumer Discretionary