Bernstein Maintains Outperform on Amazon, Forecasts FY Beat

In a report published Friday, Bernstein Research analyst Carlos Kirjner maintained an Outperform rating and $420.00 price target on

. Kirjner commented on the company's revenue deceleration noting that it followed fourth quarter in 2012. The analyst wrote, "We believe the 4Q12 deceleration and subsequent acceleration in North America can be explained by the ongoing shift in the make-up of Amazon's GMV, with faster growing categories such as consumables and apparel becoming a larger portion of GMV than slower growing categories like consumer electronics. Because these different components of Amazon's GMV have different growth rates and seasonality, with the slower growing categories corresponding to a large portion of GMV in 4Q, we see large variation in the retail revenue growth rate between, e.g., 3Q and 4Q, subsequent seasonal reacceleration." Bernstein's research and estimates forecast no material deceleration for 2014 versus 2013 and is ahead of consensus. Carlos Kirjner reported that these numbers suggest that Amazon will likely beat current consensus revenue estimates. Shares of Amazon closed at $357.20 on Thursday.