The pullback in Amazon (AMZN) has gotten a bit ridiculous.
Sure, it’s seen slower growth, with lower-than-normal sales. In its third quarter, for example, the company posted revenue of $127.1 billion, which was up about 15% year over year. Unfortunately, it was lighter than expectations for $127.46 billion. Worse, its cloud business saw 27.5% growth for the quarter, which was the slowest since 2014. Its revenue forecast of between $140 billion and $148 billion was also below expectations for $155.15 billion.
“The continuing impacts of broad-scale inflation, heightened fuel prices and rising energy costs have impacted our sales growth as consumers assess their purchasing power and organizations of all sizes evaluate their technology and advertising spend,” said Amazon CFO Brian Olsavsky on the company’s recent earnings call.
Multiple analysts have even lowered their price targets on the stock. Inflation, supply chain issues, lower consumer spending, and fears of recession have been just as damaging.
However, a lot of that negativity has been priced into the stock. Plus, we have to consider that this $914.1 billion stock now trades at less than two times sales. The last time it traded anywhere near this level was back in 2015. Also, its cloud business is still growing at a 28% clip year over year. Even its ad business was up 30% for the quarter.
In short, the weakness we’re seeing in AMZN is an opportunity. A big one.