We recently published a list of Wall Street Analysts Can’t Stop Talking About These 10 AI Stocks. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN) stands against other stocks Wall Street analysts can’t stop talking about.
Henry Ajder, Latent Space Advisory founder, said in a latest program on CNBC that lack of fresh data remains a key challenge for the performance of AI systems after a period of “huge” developments and fast learning.
“I think data is the real problem here. We have a finite amount of data available on the internet and a limited number of sources for live, fresh data. I believe this is becoming an increasingly significant challenge, especially as legal issues surrounding how companies obtain and use data are becoming more prominent,” the analyst said.
Ajder believes there won’t be a complete “halt” to the progress in AI systems but in 2025 we are expected to see a slowdown. Answering a question about the AI’s ability to make up data, called synthetic data” to train itself, the analyst said this domain has shown promise but there are risks of synthetic data potentially corrupting the training models.
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For this article we picked 10 AI stocks currently trending based on latest news. With each stock we have mentioned the number of hedge fund investors. Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 275% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 150 percentage points (see more details here).
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Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN)
Number of Hedge Fund Investors: 286
Lee Munson, president and CIO of Portfolio Wealth Advisors, explained on CNBC in a latest program why he loves Amazon stock:
“Everything excites me. Over the last year, we’ve learned that Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN) makes a lot more money by sending us all those cardboard boxes. They’re also making marginal money from selling ads. While this may put some pressure on Google, I believe this trend will continue.
Amazon really represents the retail marketplace, with sellers paying Amazon more to access AI and all the benefits it brings to help them sell more products to Americans—and for us to keep hitting that “buy it now” button. I see Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN) as a retail story, and everything related to the cloud will continue to grow, bringing AI to smaller and midsize businesses and retail sellers. That’s why I love it.”
Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN) threw it out of the park with its latest quarterly results amid strong Cloud growth. Amazon Web Services has generated $27.5 billion in revenue, marking a 19% year-over-year increase. The segment’s operating income is expanding at nearly 2.5 times the rate of its revenue growth, boosting Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN)’s overall operating income. At this pace, AWS is on track to deliver $110 billion in annualized revenue. If it maintains its ~20% growth rate, AWS could reach $125-130 billion in revenue in FY 2025.
For the ongoing quarter, Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN) expects revenue between $181.5 billion and $188.5 billion, implying growth of up to 11%. Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN)’s stock currently trades at a forward P/E of 32.9, higher than the big tech average of 25.5. If Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN) grows its earnings per share (EPS) by an average of 25% annually over the next three years, it could achieve an EPS of around $9.25 by FY 2027 (up from an estimated $4.74 in FY 2024). Applying a 35x P/E ratio in line with Amazon.com Inc’s (NASDAQ:AMZN) historical average suggests a fair stock value of over $300. The primary catalyst for this target would be AWS’s robust operating income growth.
Meridian Hedged Equity Fund stated the following regarding Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) in its Q3 2024 investor letter:
“Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) is a leading e-commerce company that operates a vast online marketplace for third-party sellers, sells its own products, and provides cloud infrastructure services through Amazon Web Services (AWS). We own Amazon because we believe AWS and advertising will continue to drive long-term revenue growth and profitability improvements. Although the stock didn’t perform well this quarter, we attribute this to a mix of short-term factors, including macroeconomic headwinds impacting consumer and enterprise spending, slowing retail revenue growth, and retail margin expansion falling short of market expectations. Additionally, increased investment in longer-term initiatives like satellite broadband and other experimental projects put further pressure on margins. Despite weaker-than-expected third-quarter guidance, we believe Amazon’s long-term growth story remains strong. We see multiple levers for improved profitability and free cash flow generation over time. We maintained our position in the company during the period.”
Overall, AMZN ranks 1st on our list of stocks Wall Street analysts can’t stop talking about. While we acknowledge the potential of AMZN, our conviction lies in the belief that under the radar AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter time frame. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than AMZN but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
