Amazon Reports Q4 Beat, Issues Soft Q1 Outlook

Core Viewpoint - Amazon.com Inc's stock has declined by 3.7% to $230.04 following weaker-than-expected guidance for the current quarter, forecasting sales between $151 billion and $155.5 billion, which is below analysts' expectations of $158.5 billion [1] Group 1: Earnings and Revenue - Despite the cautious outlook, Amazon's fourth-quarter earnings and revenue surpassed expectations, leading to mixed analyst reactions with at least 10 firms raising their price targets and four lowering theirs [2] - Rosenblatt and Deutsche Bank set optimistic price targets at $287, while Wells Fargo adopted a conservative approach, reducing its target to $207 [2] Group 2: Options Trading Activity - Options traders have significantly increased activity, with over 655,000 calls and 338,000 puts exchanged, which is five times the average intraday volume [3] - The most active contract is the weekly 2/7 235-strike call, with positions being opened ahead of the expiration at the end of the session [3] Group 3: Stock Performance - Despite the recent pullback, Amazon's stock remains just below its all-time high of $242.52 reached on February 4, finding support at the 20-day moving average and the $230 level [4] - Year-to-date, Amazon has maintained a gain of 5.2%, and over the past year, the stock has increased by an impressive 36% [4]