Amazon.com reported a third-quarter revenue and earnings beat
Shares Big Tech staple Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN) are surging today, last seen 7.2% higher to trade at $199.90. The e-commerce company's strong third-quarter results included $1.43 earnings per share on revenue of $158.88 billion, both of which beat Wall Street's expectations thanks to growth in its cloud computing and advertising units. In addition, Amazon Web Services' revenue grew 19% over the last 12 months, slightly below estimates but still faster on a year-over-year basis.
No less than 18 analysts have hiked their price target in response. Truist Securities appears to be the most bullish, moving from $265 up to $270 -- a more than 35% premium to the equity's current perch.
AMZN is a chip shot from its July 8 all-time high of $201.20, though the round-number $200 level could turn out to be a hesitation point. The shares are now back above the $2 trillion market cap level for the first time since July. Year-to-date, the stock is now up 31.1% and 43.1% year-over-year.
AMZN options are flying off the shelves. In the first half hour of trading, 245,000 calls and 128,000 puts have crossed the tape, volume that's eight times the intraday average amount. The weekly 11/1 200-strike call is the most popular by a wide margin, with the 205-strike call from the same series following distantly.