Amazon.com (AMZN 1.30%) has joined the exalted ranks of $3,000-plus stocks. The company hit that milestone on Monday, when its stock closed above that level for the first time in its history.
In recent years, the company has become the incumbent online retailer, the first choice for a great many people when it comes to buying a vast range of items. This trend has snowballed ever more, particularly in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. Amazon is well suited for times like this; it's easy to order from and a customer usually -- despite some supply glitches this spring -- gets their goods quickly, with no-contact delivery.
Image source: Amazon.com.
Amazon also benefits from the retail apocalypse, which has accelerated because of the coronavirus and the stay-in-place mandates it has engendered (and which are coming back now that the outbreak is resurgent). It is inconvenient or impossible for customers to go brick-and-mortar stores in order to obtain necessary/wanted goods; Amazon is a default alternative for them to turn to.
The coronavirus has also boosted demand for what can be considered a kind of stealth business for Amazon as far as the general public is concerned -- its powerful and very popular Amazon Web Services (AWS) division.
In the company's most recently reported quarter, AWS contributed over $10.2 billion to the company's total net sales of almost $75.5 billion. As a business unit, AWS' growth outpaced that of torrid North American retail sales, growing at a year-over-year pace of almost 33% against the latter's 29%.
Amazon's leap over the $3,000 line on Monday was due to a nearly 6% rise in its share price on the day. That was a better performance than many rival retail stocks, not to mention the top equity indexes.
