Amazon (Nasdaq:AMZN) Soars on Citigroup (NYSE:C) Price Target, "Buy" Rating

Amazon.com (Nasdaq:AMZN) is soaring today in anticipation of a big Christmas season and the reiteration by Citigroup (NYSE:C) analyst Mark Mahaney of a "Buy" rating on the online retailer.

One of the major catalysts was the “Hot 20 toys” survey which included Amazon and major competitors Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT) and Target (NYSE:TGT). Findings were when shipping was included for the hottest toys, Amazon was the pricing leader, and also the only one offering every one of the toys on the list.

In another survey, 12 percent of respondents said they were going to acquire a e-reader device of some type this Christmas, suggesting the estimate made by Mahaney that 8 million kindles would be sold this holiday season may be to conservative.

Amason was trading at $176.71, gaining $8.51, or 5.06 percent at 12:04 PM EST. Citigroup has a price target of $190 on them.