New York, Jan 5, 2026, 06:02 (EST) — Premarket
- Amazon shares were up about 0.4% in premarket trade after slipping 1.9% on Friday.
- Evercore ISI reiterated an Outperform rating and a $335 target; Jefferies lifted its target to $300.
- Traders are looking to the next earnings update for AWS growth and the payoff from AI-led retail tools.
Amazon.com shares edged higher in premarket trading on Monday as two analyst notes pointed to upside from the company’s AI-powered shopping assistant and cloud growth. The stock was up about 0.4% at $227.33, after ending Friday at $226.50.
The fresh bullish calls matter because investors are pressing Amazon to show that its AI push is moving the needle beyond headlines. That means stronger demand at Amazon Web Services (AWS) and evidence that new shopping tools convert browsers into buyers without squeezing profitability.
The timing is tight. Earnings calendars tracked by Investing.com and TipRanks list Amazon’s next results for Jan. 29 after the close, a report that is likely to reset expectations for 2026.
Evercore ISI reiterated an “Outperform” rating and a $335 price target, citing Amazon’s AI shopping assistant Rufus. The firm said Rufus and related AI commerce features could lift gross merchandise value — the total dollar value of items sold — by as much as $56 billion by 2028.
Amazon has said more than 250 million customers used Rufus in 2025, and shoppers using it are over 60% more likely to complete a purchase during that shopping trip.
“We’ve built and keep improving our next-gen in-store AI assistant to be a knowledgeable shopping expert,” Rajiv Mehta, vice president of Search and Conversational Shopping at Amazon, said in a company post.
Jefferies raised its price target to $300 from $275 and maintained a buy rating, arguing negative sentiment could reverse if AWS growth accelerates and Amazon’s AI capabilities improve. Jefferies said the stock trades at about 12 times its 2026 EV/EBITDA — a valuation metric that compares enterprise value (market value plus debt, minus cash) to earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization.
Jefferies said some investors see Amazon behind peers such as Microsoft and Alphabet in AI development, but it argued AWS is positioned for the next phase as companies shift from training AI models to running them in production, a process often called “inference.” Investing
The bank forecast Amazon’s total revenue growth easing to about 10% in 2026 from about 12% in 2025, while operating margin improves to 12.3% from 11.2%. Those numbers keep AWS growth, advertising trends and spending discipline at the center of the next earnings debate.
But the setup cuts both ways. If enterprise demand cools, or if AI investment ramps faster than revenue and productivity gains, margin expectations could unravel, while U.S. antitrust pressure on Big Tech remains a live uncertainty for the sector.
For now, Amazon’s stock will likely trade on signs that AWS can reaccelerate and that Rufus-style tools deliver measurable gains in retail conversion and advertising. The next hard catalyst is the quarterly report listed for Jan. 29 after the close on major earnings calendars.
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