Amazon (AMZN +1.93%) offers some of the most popular products and services on the market, with a customer base ranging from individual consumers and small merchants to large enterprise clients and even government contracts. As a leader in the tech sector, its shares have rewarded investors over the years.
A $10,000 investment in this FAANG stock a decade ago would be worth $87,600 today. That's a remarkable return of 776%, a gain that crushes both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite by an insanely wide margin. Let's understand the key factors that are propelling Amazon. And then, investors can assess the current situation to figure out if the stock is a buy right now.
Multiple growth engines
Amazon's shares have soared due to impressive revenue growth. The company's 2022 sales of $514 billion were a whopping 741% higher than in 2012. Even through the first six months of 2023, when macro headwinds related to high inflation and interest rates have been impacting the economic picture, the business was still able to increase sales by 10% year over year.
It's pretty easy to figure out why the growth has been so spectacular. Amazon benefits from multiple secular trends. The company's flagship business line is its e-commerce operation, which contributed 63% of revenue in the latest quarter. It's strikingly clear that this is still incredibly important to the business.
What has propelled Amazon to a massive lead in online shopping is its huge logistics network, something that rivals will have a hard time competing with these days, especially when it comes to fast delivery. The popularity of Amazon Prime also helps.
While the near-term gains might be under pressure due to economic uncertainty, the fact that e-commerce spending represents just 15% of the overall retail sector gives Amazon plenty of long-term potential.
NASDAQ: AMZN
Key Data Points
Another important segment that just might carry the company over the next 10 years is the cloud segment, Amazon Web Services (AWS). Revenue increased by only 12% in the most recent quarter, a major slowdown from previous years, but it could get back to greater than 20% gains once the economy is on better footing.
AWS benefits from the trend of companies shifting their IT spending from on-premises infrastructure to the cloud, which can reduce costs and drive greater operational efficiencies. AWS has a leading market share in a booming industry that's set to be worth $1.6 trillion by 2030.
Investors might be surprised to know that Amazon is quickly rising in the digital advertising industry. Sales for this segment jumped 22% to total $10.7 billion in the second quarter. And according to Statista, Alphabet and Meta Platforms are the only two businesses ahead of Amazon in the U.S. in the digital ad market. This provides another growth tailwind.
Time to buy?
Considering the company's market cap of over $1.3 trillion and trailing-12-month sales of $538 billion, investors are probably wondering if there is even any chance that this could be a winning stock as we look out over the next decade. After all, where could the growth possibly come from?
According to Wall Street consensus analyst estimates, Amazon's revenue is set to rise at a compound annual rate of 11.4% between 2022 and 2027. While it's best to take these forecasts with a grain of salt, this outlook clearly demonstrates that double-digit top-line growth is fully on the table.
Even though the stock has rewarded shareholders in the past, it's currently 30% below its all-time high in July 2021. And the shares don't look expensive at all. They trade at a price-to-sales multiple of 2.5, a huge discount to the trailing 10-year average of 3.1. Now might be an opportune time to add this dominant enterprise to your portfolio.
