BofA takes second 'deep dive' look at AMZN

In a report published Wednesday, analysts at Bank of America Merril Lynch maintained their Buy rating on

, as well as the price target of $475. "Given high potential ROI, we view AWS as transformational business and an increasingly important growth theme for the stock," the analysts stated. Although AWS contributes only 7 percent of the company's revenue, the segment is expected to grow 55 percent, year on year, in 2015 to $7.2 billion. "We also estimate that AWS segment operating income will contribute ~40% of total operating income in 2015, and AWS segment operating income could approach 50% in 2017," the analysts said. Given this segment's rapid growth and margin profile, it is expected to be a major driver of the company's overall profitability. "We assume AWS will stay in investment mode for the foreseeable future as infrastructure builds ahead of revenue, but long-term FCF margins should be much better than Amazon's retail business," Bank of America Merrill Lynch added.