Shares of e-commerce concern Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) are higher out of the gate, after receiving a price-target hike to $1,750 from $1,350 from MKM Partners, which also maintained its "buy" rating. The brokerage firm said Amazon boasts "the best growth story of all the mega-caps over the very long term," and upped its long-term earnings estimates. In response, the FAANG stock was up 1.3% at $1,487.05, at last check.
AMZN pulled back with the broader equities market in early February, but found support atop its rising 50-day moving average. Since then, Amazon stock has been steadily creeping back toward its record high of $1,498, touched Feb. 2 after a solid earnings report, and has already gained more than 27% year-to-date.
In the options pits, data from the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX) shows AMZN with a 10-day call/put volume ratio of 1.19, ranking in the 83rd percentile of its annual range. This suggests Amazon calls have been bought to open over puts at a faster-than-usual clip during the past two weeks of trading.
Echoing this, Amazon stock's Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 0.85 ranks in the lowest percentile of comparable readings taken in the past year. This low reading suggests that short-term speculators have rarely been more call-skewed toward the stock during the past 12 months.
Unsurprisingly, most analysts following the FAANG stock are already optimistic, with 33 of 37 carrying "strong buy" or "buy" recommendations. Likewise, AMZN stock's average 12-month price target of $1,649.68 represents more than 10% upside to current levels.