“Alexa, good morning!”
And with that, my day started. My Amazon.com Inc. (Nasdaq: AMZN) Echo Spot woke up at my pre-programmed greeting and listed off what was on my calendar for the day, what the weather was like and how much traffic I should expect on the way to work.
Then she started my news briefing.
While I was sipping on coffee and getting ready for the day, I got a complete update on everything from tech news and geopolitical developments to my word of the day. (It’s “eldritch,” by the way. It means weird or sinister. Let’s see if I can use it in this article at least once.)
You’ve likely heard of Alexa — Amazon’s digital assistant, which lives in devices such as the Echo Spot. Many of you might even own one. I’m late to the game, but I recently bought my parents one for Mother’s Day, and I decided to double down on the purchase to see what I was missing.
It seems many consumers have been doing the same thing.
Amazon’s pricey shares have climbed 10% since the company reported fourth-quarter earnings in early February. It reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter numbers, which were spurred by Alexa sales.
CEO Jeff Bezos said: “Our 2017 projections for Alexa were optimistic, and we far exceeded them. We don’t see positive surprises of this magnitude very often — expect us to double down.”
Amazon ended up selling “tens of millions” of Echo devices. In fact, its Echo Dot was one of its best-selling products for all of 2017.
We’ve all heard of Amazon’s steady growth.
Just over the past 12 months, the stock has popped 65%. That means it successfully outperformed its peer group. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 Index has grown 15%.
Even now, at a hefty price of $1,575, analysts are still looking for quick pullbacks to jump into the stock.
That brings me to the big question many investors now have: How can I profit from this type of growth, especially if I don’t want to tie up thousands of dollars per share?
That’s a good question. I’d say all you have to do is look for the companies that are revolutionizing industries — or the way that people live (the way Alexa is doing for me).
Amazon is clearly checking both boxes.
It’s the clear leader in cloud computing with its Amazon Web Services, which generated $5.4 billion in revenue in Q1. It’s also waded into the grocery business with its acquisition of Whole Foods. Likewise, it has a footprint in hardware with devices such as Amazon Fire tablets and Fire TV sticks.
And of course, it’s leading the market in smart-speaker technology with Alexa.
If the road toward finding the next Amazon seems horrifying (eldritch even), I’d say it’s time to follow a trader with a history of finding those types of revolutionary companies.
Tech expert Paul is one example. You can read more about his Internet of Things strategy by clicking here. (That way, you can find other companies profiting from breakthroughs like Alexa.)
I’d recommend doing so quickly, though. He just recommended a new company to his readers that promises to be the Amazon of real estate. And it’s still in his buy range.
Catch you next week.
Regards,
Jessica Cohn-Kleinberg
Managing Editor, Banyan Hill Publishing