Can Amazon's Stock Sustain Its Success In 2018?

With the Nasdaq breaching the 7,000 barrier one can safely say that this was a year when tech stocks really came into their own. To put things in perspective, the Technology Select Sector SPDR is up nearly 35% year to date, easily outperforming its closest peers by nearly 15%.

Most of the recent equity market rally can be attributed to a small clutch of stocks, namely the FAAMG group and Netflix, Inc. NFLX. Of these, only Alphabet Inc. GOOGL is up 37% year to date while all the others, including iPhone maker Apple Inc. AAPL are up more than 50% over the same period.

But if one stocks stands out amongst them all, it is Amazon.com, Inc. AMZN. With the stock setting a searing pace of gains, the question arises; can the iconic e-tailer sustain this momentum into the next year? Or are there any rude surprises on the horizon?

Steady Gains, Smart Decisions

It's been a year of steady gains for the online behemoth with Amazon moving from a position of strength to one of dominance. Currently, its online presence poses a threat to the existence of the entire brick and mortar retail space. To provide a small illustration, in 2017 alone, Sears Holdings Corporation SHLD shuttered more than 350 Sears and K-mart stores. (Read: Is There a Brick & Mortar Route to Retail Success?)

Moreover, in June, the online retail behemoth announced it was buying premium supermarket chain Whole Foods for $13.7 billion. Analysts are now betting that Amazon will soon make major forays into the grocery space because of its logistics and data mining expertise. This could cause nearly 10% of grocery purchases to move online. (Read: Grocery Gunfight: Can Incumbents Fend Off Amazon?)

In Conclusion

The favorite of analysts and retail investors, Amazon has enjoyed a year of strong gains and major successes. Next year promises to be no difficult since the company is well placed to combat any likely impediments to its ongoing growth.

 
Amazon.com, Inc. AMZN: Free Stock Analysis Report
 
Netflix, Inc. NFLX: Free Stock Analysis Report
 
Alphabet Inc. GOOGL: Free Stock Analysis Report
 
Apple Inc. AAPL: Free Stock Analysis Report
 
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