Amazon's Results Weren't 'meaningful' Enough For Raymond James To Return To Bullish Stance

Analyst Aaron Kessler at Raymond James, who downgraded Amazon.com Inc. ahead of the e-commerce giant's first-quarter report, said Friday that he is sticking to his view that the stock is fairly valued. After having a bullish rating on Amazon for two years, Kessler cut his rating to market perform on Tuesday. After Amazon reported late Thursday what Kessler called "largely in-line 1Q results," the stock surged 3.1% in premarket trade toward its 11th record close of the year. Kessler said he has a "positive fundamental view" on Amazon, but he believes Amazon "needs to begin to show more meaningful operating leverage--flat [year-over-year] in 1Q--for shares to move meaningfully higher." The stock has rallied 9.9% over the past three months, while the S&P 500 has gained 4.1%.