By Carly Forster
Amazon (AMZN, Financial) had a successful night at the Golden Globes award show on Sunday, Jan. 11 after winning two Golden Globes for its original series “Transparent.” These are the first awards that original content from Amazon Prime’s video streaming service has ever won.
In addition, Amazon announced it has signed critically-acclaimed director and industry icon Woody Allen to write and direct a 30-minute series that will stream on their Prime Instant Video service available in the U.S., U.K, and Germany. Following this news and the Golden Globe wins, many are starting to believe that Amazon is poised to become more of a direct competitor with video streaming giant Netflix (NFLX).
On Jan. 13, Topeka Capital analyst Victor Anthony gave Amazon a Buy rating and a $350 price target following the company’s award show wins and Woody Allen announcement. In regards to Woody Allen signing a contract with Amazon, the analyst noted, “His signing with Prime Instant Video is a shot in the arm for the burgeoning Internet streaming service and could entice more directors to follow, drive viewership, and set up Instant Video as a standalone service for viewers who would prefer not to sign up for Amazon Prime.” As far as Amazon’s stock, the analyst believes “that 2015 will be the year that Amazon proves out its investment strategy with consistent 20%-plus top-line growth coupled with margin expansion, a combination that has historically lead to meaningful share price appreciation.”
Victor Anthony currently has an overall success rate of 58% recommending stocks and a +15.4% average return per recommendation.
In other news, Amazon shares had a big jump on Jan. 12 after Citigroup analyst Mark May upgraded the tech giant to a Buy from Neutral and raised his price target to $354. May believes that the company’s gross margins have bottomed and that valuation is favorable. The analyst noted, “We believe margins can reverse the recent trend and rise in calendar-year 2015, as we do not expect the multiple factors that came into play in 2014 to worsen in 2015.”
Overall, Mark May has a 59% success rate recommending stocks and a +12.1% average return per recommendation.
On average, the top analyst consensus for Amazon on TipRanks is Moderate Buy.
To see more recommendations for Amazon, visit TipRanks today!
