Amazon.com, Inc. ( AMZN) shares may be once again trading at all-time highs, but Wall Street analysts still love the tech giant as a long-term investment. But while most analysts focus on Amazon’s e-commerce and cloud services segments, Tigress Financial Partners analyst Ivan Feinseth believes Amazon’s fulfillment and shipping businesses could be a major piece of the long-term puzzle.
In a new research note on Tuesday, Feinseth reiterated his bullish outlook and a “buy” rating for Amazon.
According to Feinseth, each one of Amazon’s major business segments holds a dominant market share, is growing rapidly and is performing at or above expectations.
“AMZN continues to invest in fulfillment centers, cloud services, original content, hardware and global expansion as it focuses on creating long-term value over near-term profit,” Feinseth says.
“AMZN’s strong brand equity and customer loyalty, as well as its positive long-term results will continue to drive increasing economic profit and greater shareholder value creation, and [I] believe significant upside in the shares still exists.”
[See: 7 of the Best Cheap Stocks to Buy Under $10.]
Focusing on fulfillment. Amazon already provides pickup, packaging, shipping and storage services to its fulfillment clients. In addition, Amazon is quietly working on building an air cargo hub at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport.
Feinseth says the air hub is the next step in expanding Amazon’s fulfillment business into a stand-alone shipping and logistics segment. Amazon is also working on expanding its ground and drone delivery services as well.
Prime subscribers are key. A major part of Amazon’s long-term plan for its expansion into fulfillment and shipping involves getting more customers to sign up for Amazon Prime membership. For $99 per year, Amazon Prime members already get free or reduced shipping rates.
This week, the company unveiled its latest strategy for boosting Prime subscriptions. Amazon secured a deal reportedly worth $50 million to stream 10 NFL Thursday Night Football games on its Prime Video platform. The streams will only be accessible to Prime members.
[See: 8 Times When You Should Sell a Stock.]
Amazon reportedly paid five times as much for its NFL streaming deal than Twitter ( TWTR) did for a similar streaming deal last season. However, Feinseth says Prime subscriber growth will be the key to Amazon’s long-term story as it continues to integrate its product offerings, cut costs and gain market share from competitors.
More from U.S. News
High-Tech Investing: 7 Sectors to Watch
Artificial Intelligence Stocks: 10 Companies Betting on AI
7 Dividend Stocks to Buy That Pay More Each Year
Shipping and Fulfillment Are the Next Steps for Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN) originally appeared on usnews.com
