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Amazon (AMZN) enters 2021 with plenty of big opportunities, but is losing its lauded Chief Executive Jeff Bezos, who announced his plan to step aside in the third quarter. Given that, is Amazon stock a buy?
Bezos will hand off his role as chief executive to Andy Jassy, the CEO of its cloud computing unit. He's not leaving, as Bezos will transition to the role of Executive Chairman and remain active. But one Wall Street analyst thinks the changing of the guard is further evidence of a pivotal shift in Amazon's long-term strategy that will alter the course of its business operations.
D.A. Davidson analyst Tom Forte believes that Amazon is steadily evolving into being a much larger services company. The idea is, rather than disrupt and destroy businesses as it has frequently done, Amazon will instead try to help them. They'll cooperate with Amazon but still be in competition with it. It's a business strategy referred to as "coopetition."
"It's the newer, kinder, gentler Amazon," Forte told Investor's Business Daily. "They'll help you make more money rather than take away all your sales."
The massive warehousing and shipping abilities Amazon continues to build would be made more widely available to other businesses. Not only would Amazon help them advertise and sell products, it might also provide logistics services, storage and shipping. Also, if a company needs video-streaming help, Amazon Video has them covered. And its cloud services operation, the largest worldwide, is already used by thousands of businesses large and small.
Amazon Stock Gets Boost From Sizzling Earnings Report
The management shift was announced the same day Amazon turned in a sizzling fourth-quarter earnings report that smashed expectations. Earnings were double what analysts expected. And company revenue in the quarter broke above $100 billion for the first time.
Amazon carries plenty of big opportunities into 2021, providing plenty of fuel for continued growth in Amazon stock.
"When you look at our financial results, what you're actually seeing are the long-run cumulative results of invention," Bezos said in written remarks with the Amazon earnings release. "Right now I see Amazon at its most inventive ever, making it an optimal time for this transition."
There are other compelling reasons why Amazon would want to go down this path. The service business is highly profitable. Moreover, the new Amazon could ease the pressure it's receiving in Congress over regulatory and antitrust concerns. Congress increasingly views Amazon as an overwhelming threat to fair competition.