"US Remains Beacon of Hope" for Amazon, Morgan Stanley Maintains Buy

In a report published Friday, Morgan Stanley analyst Scott Devitt maintained an Overweight rating on Amazon.com Inc. AMZN and a $435.00 price target noting that the “US Remains a Beacon of Hope”. On Thursday, Amazon reported fourth quarter and full year 2013 results. Revenue and unit growth decelerated this quarter to 25% and 22% ex-FX, repectively. Morgan Stanley noted that Internation grew 15% ex-FX versus 20% last quarter due to Media, EGM, and other deceleration. Devitt commented on raise of the prime fee by $20-40. The analyst noted, “The company indicated the fee increase (the first since the program started in 2005) is needed to offset cost increases as Amazon.com has massively expanded the value provided to Prime members without a price increase. While the increase could cause limited churn, we believe that Prime remains one of the best values around for customers.” Morgan Stanley lowered guidance for 2014 revenue to 22% with 25% unit growth. Shares of Amazon closed at $403.01 on Thursday, and is currently trading down 9.08% at $366.42.