Based on the aggregated intelligence of 180,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, online retail giant Amazon.com
With that in mind, let's take a closer look at Amazon and see what CAPS investors are saying about the stock right now.
Amazon facts
| Headquarters (Founded) | Seattle (1994) |
| Market Cap | $113.9 billion |
| Industry | Internet retail |
| Trailing-12-Month Revenue | $54.3 billion |
| Management | Founder/Chairman/CEO Jeff Bezos CFO Thomas Szkutak |
| Return on Equity (average, past 3 years) | 14.7% |
| Cash/Debt | $5.0 billion / $0 |
| Competitors |
Apple eBay Wal-Mart |
Sources: S&P Capital IQ and Motley Fool CAPS.
On CAPS, 20% of the 6,608 members who have rated Amazon believe the stock will underperform the S&P 500 going forward.
Just yesterday, one of those Fools, Valueeqanalyst, touched on the stock's seemingly unsustainable valuation:
Amazon can either meet revenue growth expectations or margin growth expectations but probably not both. The stock trades at a very, very high multiple (even factoring in the growth) given that at the end of the day it's a retailer. Just for context, [Wal-Mart] has [net income] margins of about 3%, that's where [Amazon] can hope to get to. ... It'll take time, but a few misses can really punish the stock. Intrinsic value is probably about half of the [current price].
Of course, that short pitch doesn't even come close to telling the entire story for Amazon. You're in luck though. The Fool's brand new premium report on Amazon tells all sides of the story for one of the most compelling and powerful internet companies in the world. You can grab your copy, which comes with free updates for 12 months, by just clicking here.
Want to see how well (or not so well) the stocks in this series are performing? Follow the TrackPoisedTo CAPS account.
