Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN): What to Expect, What Not to Expect This Quarter

When Amazon announced that it was joining Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) in the development of original content for its streaming video service, the fight was really on. Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) competed with Netflix before Amazon Studios came into existence, but investing in original programming made it clear that Amazon is in it for the long haul, and early results are positive. Unlike Netflix, Amazon doesn’t have all its eggs in the streaming-video basket. With multiple revenue streams, Amazon is in the enviable position of having time to grow its disparate businesses, including streaming video. As for Netflix investors, they seem content with the next “we brought on more subscribers!” headline as an impetus to push the stock price even higher. Until the bottom falls out, again.

By comparison, Netflix is little more than a blip on Amazon’s horizon when compared with Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) and industry bellwether International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE:IBM), but that hasn’t deterred Amazon from targeting both in the explosive cloud computing industry — potentially a $241 billion market by 2020. The announcement earlier this month that both Google and Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN)are lowering cloud-related fees for customers won’t be the last head-to-head battle, and others are sure to follow suit. Amazon with its new redshift solution and focus on price points remains the low-cost cloud leader, but Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG), International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE:IBM), and others may change all that.

If you can get past the notion that Amazon won’t blow the doors off earnings on April 25, and focus on whether margins are still improving — demonstrating that technology and infrastructure spending is working — and international revenue growth continues, the average analyst price target for Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) of $320 a share should be within reach.

The article What to Expect, and What Not to Expect, From Amazon’s Q1 originally appeared on Fool.com and is written by Tim Brugger.

Fool contributor Tim Brugger has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Amazon.com, Google, and Netflix and owns shares of Amazon.com, Google, IBM, and Netflix.

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