Amazon's Stock Gains As Another Analyst Sets Price Target Above $1,000

Shares of Amazon.com Inc. edged up 0.3% in premarket trade Tuesday, after Stifel Nicolaus boosted its price target by 12%, saying the company is in position to be the prime beneficiary of the carnage it has created in ecommerce. Analyst Scott Devitt raised his stock price target to $1,025, which is 21% above Monday's closing price of $846.82, from $912. Of the 44 analysts surveyed by FactSet, Devitt now has the fourth highest price target, behind the $1,250 at Susquehanna and the $1,050 at both Cowen & Co. and Deutsche Bank. Devitt also raised his long-term revenue outlook given his belief that the momentum in ecommerce will accelerate in the U.S., that Prime membership will continue to grow, that Amazon Web Services business will keep growing and because of the emergence of non-retail lines of business. Devitt said that while continued investment in areas including logistics, cloud services, video and Alexa could weigh on margin growth, he supports Amazon's investment strategies as he believes there is a "strong likelihood for successful outcomes." Separately, Amazon said Tuesday it was buying Dubai-based ecommerce company Souq.com for about $700 million. The stock has rallied 13% year to date through Monday, while the S&P 500 has gained 4.6%.