Company Update (NASDAQ:AMZN): [$$] Amazon Platform Likely Not a 2U Threat

[at Barrons.com] – Credit Suisse Amazon.com announced a free online-learning platform, which should not be viewed as competitive to 2U, in our view. Last week, several news publications reported that Amazon (AMZN) (rated at Outperform) is preparing to launch a free platform that will allow educators to upload, manage and share educational materials, which some investors might perceive (incorrectly, in our view) as a negative for 2U (TWOU) (rated at Outperform, $32 target price). Due to the seemingly limited scope of Amazon’s product, which appears to be no more than a hosting platform for educational material, we do not view this offering as even remotely comparable to 2U’s solution. Read more on this. Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN) , valued at $273.33B, started the session at $571.00. Looking at the stock, its one day range is $567.00 to $581.52 with the price of the stock fluctuating between $365.65 to $696.44 over the last 52 weeks. Priced at 124.65x this year’s forecasted earnings, AMZN shares are relatively expensive compared to the industry’s 9.15x forward p/e ratio. In a review of the consensus earnings estimate this quarter, 37 sell-side analysts are looking at $0.58 per share, which would be $0.58 worse than the year-ago quarter and a $0.30 sequential decrease. In looking at the bigger picture, the full-year EPS estimate of $4.60 would be a $3.35 improvement when compared to the previous year’s annual results. The quarterly earnings estimate is based on a consensus revenue forecast of the current quarter of $27.96 Billion. If realized, that would be a 23.06% increase over the year-ago quarter. Recently, Canaccord Genuity upgraded AMZN from Hold to Buy (Feb 18, 2016). Previously, Susquehanna Initiated AMZN at to Positive. The average price target for AMZN shares by the analysts covering the stock is $736.27, which is 28.94% above where the stock opened this morning. See more in (NASDAQ:AMZN) Similar Articles: Company Update (NASDAQ:AMZN): Google Express vs. Amazon Prime Now (GOOG, AMZN) Stock Update: Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN) – Amazon to Open New Pickup Location at The University of Texas at Austin Market Update (NASDAQ:AMZN): Amazon Web Services Announces Amazon Lumberyard — A Free, Cross-Platform, 3D Game Engine Integrated with AWS and Twitch