Thursday, March 24, 2011

Amazon.com (AMZN) Raised, Target (TGT), Wal-Mart (WMT) Not

The retail sector has received a boost on the performance of Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) and the slightly better weekly claims data in the U.S., which has resulted in Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) being upgraded by William Blair & Co. analyst Mark Miller from “Market Perform” to “Outperform.”

Miller said, "We have added confidence that Amazon.com can sustain strong market share gains with its dominant assortment and competitive pricing, even compared with leading mass merchants known for “everyday low prices.” Comparing 20 general merchandise categories with roughly 480 items each at Target (TGT $50.24; Market Perform) and Wal-Mart (WMT $51.64; Market Perform) stores, Amazon.com has 78 times the assortment whereas Target.com has 3.5 times and Walmart.com has 5.6 times the selection of the stores."

Amazon.com was trading at $170.78, gaining $5.46, or 3.30 percent, as of 12:51 PM EDT. Wal-Mart was at $52.67, up $1.03, or 1.99 percent. Target was trading at $50.31, up $0.07, or 0.14 percent.

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