J.P. Morgan Securities this morning came out with a note reaffirming Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) as one of its favorite stocks out of the internet sector. The brokerage firm highlighted the company's diversified revenue stream and its fast-growing digital advertising business that should eventually make it the third largest digital ad platform in the world. Analysts at BofA-Merrill Lynch also released a bullish update, lifting their AMZN stock price target to $2,100 from $2,000. This analyst attention comes as traders also digest some personal news from CEO Jeff Bezos.
So far today, the shares of the e-commerce giant are little changed, last seen at $1,657. At this level, the stock is sitting just below a number of critical points on the charts. For example, the 80-day moving average, one of our favorite trendlines to watch, is perched just above, and is hovering right near the closely watched 200-day moving average. Just below these moving averages is the $1,676 price point, which represents a 50% Fibonacci retracement of the stock's Sept. 4 record high of $2,050.50 and its Dec. 24 bottom of $1,307. Note that the chart below does not include today's early trading action.
To be sure, Amazon shares have been much more volatile than usual in recent months. Take the security's 60-day historical volatility of 57.6%, which ranks just 2 percentage points from a 12-month peak. In a similar vein, prospective options traders should take note of AMZN's 30-day at-the-money implied volatility of 45.5% that ranks in the 91st annual percentile -- showing higher-than-normal volatility expectations priced into near-term contracts.