Amazon: A Long-Term Prospect?

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January 28th. Another earnings season looms. It’s like the business world holding its breath, waiting for the verdict on… everything. And Amazon (AMZN 0.68%). Honestly, it feels a bit like waiting for a particularly important text message. Will it be good news? Bad news? Will it just be a picture of someone’s lunch?

The shares were up a modest 5% in 2025. Not exactly a rocket ship, is it? But then, January 27th saw a little bump – 6% in 2026. Progress, I suppose. Though, defining ‘progress’ feels increasingly subjective these days. Units of Stock Watched: 1. Hours Spent Refreshing Financial News: 7. Attempts to Explain ‘EV/EBIT’ to Relatives: 3 (all unsuccessful).

The question is, should one act quickly and buy before the financial report drops on February 5th? It’s tempting. The lure of a ‘Magnificent Seven’ stock… it sounds so glamorous. Like joining a supergroup. But then, I remember history. Companies rise and fall. Remember Woolworths? Blockbuster? It’s a sobering thought. Though, Amazon does seem… different. A bit like a digital hydra. You cut off one head (bookselling, perhaps?) and three more sprout up (cloud computing, streaming, advertising).

I’m expecting a strong Q4 2025 report, naturally. They’ve been exceeding expectations for twelve straight quarters. It’s… impressive. Though, consistently beating expectations is a bit like consistently winning at solitaire. It’s good, but it doesn’t necessarily mean you’re a strategic genius. Still, a record is a record.

But honestly, the earnings report feels almost secondary. It’s the long-term picture that’s interesting. Amazon is, undeniably, a dominant business. It’s in e-commerce, streaming, digital advertising, cloud computing… it’s everywhere. It’s like a particularly ambitious octopus. And now, they’re investing heavily in artificial intelligence. Which is… terrifying and exciting in equal measure. Will AI save us all, or will it just recommend increasingly irrelevant products? The jury is still out.

And, crucially, the valuation is… reasonable. At least, for a company with this level of ambition. An enterprise value-to-earnings before interest and taxes multiple of 32.7. It’s near a ten-year low. Which, in the world of high finance, apparently constitutes a bargain. It feels… almost too good to be true. Days Spent Questioning My Financial Literacy: 4. Number of Times I’ve Considered Just Putting All My Money in Chocolate: 2.

So, perhaps it’s time to act with a sense of urgency. To consider adding Amazon to the portfolio. Though, I’ll probably spend the next three days overthinking it. And then, probably buy it on February 6th, just as the price starts to climb. It’s a pattern, really. A deeply ingrained, self-sabotaging pattern. But hey, at least it’s consistent.

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2026-01-29 08:22