Amazon (AMZN -1.64%) has been one of the best stocks to own ever. However, while it has soared over its three decades on the stock market, it's actually down 11% over the past three years. After sending its shares higher on its pandemic-related success, investors appear to have soured on the e-commerce giant in its more recent struggles.
Still, there are many good reasons to be bullish on Amazon stock now -- and at this price, it looks like time to buy. Here are two more reasons you may not know.
1. Amazon Sidewalk
Amazon Sidewalk is a digital network that Amazon offers to help users power their Internet of Things (IoT) devices like the Amazon Echo (for using Alexa) or Ring (for controlling home entry). It's kind of like a back-up to your WiFi system, stepping in if you lose your connection -- and also just simply helps your various devices function together more smoothly.
Sidewalk allows device users to opt into a shared network that helps extend your coverage beyond your home. It will work in many areas that standard Wi-Fi and Bluetooth capabilities don't reach. It's free for device owners to opt in, but it does take a small amount of each user's internet bandwidth to power the entire network.
The benefit of joining Sidewalk is the ability to control your devices from wherever you are as long as your device is within half a mile of the Sidewalk coverage range -- for example, using IoT-enabled smart lights at the edge of your property or controlling the Ring app even if it's outside of bluetooth coverage.
Amazon recently opened up the network for developer testing to help promote the buildout of new devices for the network, and it envisions eventually hosting a billion IoT devices on Sidewalk.
This is an exciting development that makes Amazon's technology more useful for more people, and it could have a long-term impact on device utility and sales. It could also lead to an explosion in device development and third-party partnerships that use the network.
2. Robin robotics systems
Amazon began using robotics in its warehouses in 2012 when it acquired a robotics company called Kiva, and it envisions the robotics program as a way to improve the worker experience as opposed to replacing workers. It has 520,000 robotic units, but it has hired more than 1 million workers since it first introduced robots into its systems. The robots are meant to take care of the repetitive functions that decrease worker morale, giving workers the flexibility to focus on more creative tasks instead. According to the company, robots are programmed to "move, handle, sort, [and] identify."
Management gave an update on its robotics systems in the first-quarter report, saying that the Robin robotics system had reached its billionth package. Robin is a stationary robotic arm that uses artificial intelligence, machine learning, and computer vision to scan and sort packages into pallets for fulfillment.
The Robin robot is different from the standard mobile robotic units that have been at Amazon for years. Those robots move full pallets of packages around warehouses to get sorted for fulfillment or to be moved on to the next leg of their journeys.
Robin is also different from more typical robot types that can handle a single action over and over again. Robin scans products based on size, weight, and delivery location and sorts them as they come off a conveyor belt. It needs high-tech scanners and cameras powered by data-driven algorithms to get it right.
Chief Technologist for Amazon Robotics Tye Brady said, "If we can elevate our employees to do higher-level tasks that require common sense, something computers are not good at, that's a real gain for the overall system."
Since the introduction of Robin, the company has launched two new robotic arms, Cardinal and Sparrow. These each have slightly different jobs on the Amazon delivery assembly line, and the continued investment in robotics should make Amazon fulfillment cheaper and faster.
These are just part of the multi-process Amazon machine, which is improving all the time and should result in higher sales and profits over the next few years, making it a compelling investment right now.
