Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN)

Bloated pig that is directly tied to consumer spending and has been falsely labeled by wall street.
Network computing and the Kindle are not going to morph amzn into a company that can support the current valuation.

This is a dying company. I shorted higher (over $50) and closed it out and re-shorted this around $40. Its worth every penny of $15.00.
Not sure if it can hold onto the air between current price and fair value for very long.

With a P/E of 54 there's a lot of downside with very little upside. Don't get me wrong, I think Amazon is a great company and it's going to do well, but the stock is another matter. At the current market cap, Amazon's earnings could triple and it's P/E would still be above 15. One could argue that that would be awesome if the stock maintained it's P/E of 54, but that would be unlikely. The faster Amazon grows, the quicker it gets to being saturated. At that point it can't grow at a rate that justifies a p/e of 54 and the stock will tumble. You could try to cash out before everyone else realizes this, but that's quite the gamble. In the end, and investment in Amazon today will probably provide a close to 0% return per annum considering it's current price is marked up to account for assumed future earnings, and even when those earnings come the current price will probably be the fair valuation.

Add to the fact that Amazon has an incredibly low profit margin, which gives them very little room to maneuver, and a plethora of competitors in the online retail space, I'm not sure it can very easily triple it's earnings. The problem with high P/E stocks is if they fail to deliver on expectations, they can tumble very quickly.

Amazon.com has declined about 25% over the past 4 months -- providing a more attractive entry point for long-term investors.

And that's how I approach this stock. Buy and hold -- patient investing has worked for me for this stock for nearly a decade. As John Candy said in "Splash" shortly before dropping a few more coins on the floor... "When I find something that works, I stick with it."

When people shop online, they have to use a credit card. With all the concerns with identity theft and credit card fraud, people are not comfortable with shopping at a company they haven't heard of. Who but the most internet savy are comfortable buying from some company they found on pricegrabber? Amazon has THE name in internet shopping.

I cannot believe that i am losing this bad!

Americans cannot afford to pay off their house, but they can afford to buy luxury items on the internet in such a manner that Amazon is allowed a P to E of over 50? This is stupid. I imagine Amazon rises to Christmas since that is such a big spending period over there on credit of course, then 2008 will be very bad for Amazon, very bad for the $US and very good for Gold.

Great company with a great business plan. However with a P/E of 54, I think that that is expecting unachievable growth and is overly optomistic. I'd feel more comfortable buying in the low 70s range.... love the company though!

PE highter than 100?? Where did I see this story before ? hmmm...lemme thing...ahhhhh, I know!!! Back in 2000 when Yahoo joined the S&P500, there were not many shares on the market and the stock price was squeezed into showing a whoooooping P/E higher than 100.

When else ? AOL anyone ?

AMZN is a great company, Jeff Bezos is a great visionary, I love shopping online at amazon.com, amazon.de, amazon.co.uk and amazon.fr, but Amazon isnt worth this much. It isnt worth this much. Let me say it again, it isnt worth this much.

Dont believe me ? Ok, let me explain as if you were in grammar school, a P/E higher than 100 means that if Amazon doesnt grow a lot (and fast), then it will take you 100 years to get as much profit as what you paid for the stock. Got it now ?

Good luck

Now that I've moved overseas the easiest way for my parents, friends, and I to send gives to each other is via the web and, in particular via Amazon. Amazon is just getting started overseas, too. That's where the growth is.

I really like amazon and the service it provides but 68 times earning is a bit expensive. It's not like the economy's pointing towards a full blown recovery. Once these guys miss their next earnings estimate by .01 it's going to take a pounding.

I *want* to own this company. I has redefined the way I buy books (and I buy a bunch); I'm less enthused by its forays into other niches, however. I'd say it's a buy between 25 and 30, with a long-term outlook of 40-50.

So, how often do you go to your local Borders, only to browse the books, go home, and order what you want through Amazon? You know you've done it. And that's one of the reasons that Amazon is going to continue to be relevant. Plus, the company is always trying to find new ways to engage its customers and find new ones, so it's not just relying on repeat business. Amazon survived the dot-com bust for a good reason, and it's going to continue to perform well. The bottom line is that the bricks-and-mortar bookstores don't have the physical capacity to offer the massive variety that Amazon does. All hail the Long Tail!

Key differentiator - use of technical innovations to optimize operations and reduce costs - is still true of Amazon. Amazon's investments in technology still have the promise of paying off significantly in the long term. And their online retail offering is still setting the standard today (ease of use, reliability, customer service, website brand recognition). This is a long term winner.

No strategic moat beyond logistics economies of scale; tight margin competition will continue due to lack of barriers to entry; no signs that they can increase their low margins; free/cheap shipping is not a long-term strategy.

no equal out there. continues to expand and be innovative

The plan is finally working...it's hard to argue with profit!

AMZN stock has run nicely on some good business trends, but the valuation strikes me as extremely stretched now. Even momo growth guys are going to think twice about buying in. Since I continue to work on a "soft landing includes the word 'landing'" thesis on slowing economic growth, and since consumption is levered to growth, I'll pop AMZN as a consumer fade and a valuation short.

My top destination for buying products online.. low prices, dependable delivery... Not sure why the current trading price is so low...

Amazon straight out of the jungle, the book compan ythat sells thousands of book with a GROWING international market to Boot. I have watch and seen them grow from $34 a share in March 2007 to the $ 98 mark. They have cash flow in and out and the are making a gobal move and will outperfrom the market this and next year.

Despite AMZN's great IT infrastructure, the thin margins and the continuous expansion expenses will keep hurting the bottom line... (not to mention that it has priced in quite high expectations for this Q)