Latest news with #techgiant
Globe and Mail
8 hours ago
- Business
- Globe and Mail
Why Amazon Could Be About To Breakout To $250
Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) has staged an impressive comeback since the dark days of early April. The tech giant is up more than 30% in barely more than two months and, as of Tuesday evening, was trading just under $215. That's only around a 10% move away from February's r ecord highs at the $240 level. For those of us on the sidelines, it's time to get excited because there are multiple signs that another leg higher is coming fast. Between bullish technical momentum, supportive analyst coverage, and a consistent tendency to rally into earnings, there are at least three solid reasons to think shares could be trading at $250 or more before the summer is out. The Technical Setup Is Bullish Since April, Amazon's chart has been showing higher highs and higher lows, a classic sign of a strong uptrend. Each dip has been shallow and swiftly bought up. Momentum is clearly on the bulls' side, and with the broader market in risk-on mode, that trend looks likely to continue. In recent sessions, the $215 level has emerged as a key resistance zone. It's where sellers have stepped in and checked the upward momentum, but they've been unable to reverse the overall trend. With the stock tightening into that level, we're now looking at a textbook breakout setup. A clean push through $215 could trigger a fast move up to retest the all-time highs at $242. But it may not stop there. In a market driven by momentum and narrative, the psychology of a breakout can be just as powerful as any catalyst. A break above all-time highs would confirm the bullish structure, clear the way for new upside targets, and likely trigger a wave of technical buying. If that happens, $250 becomes a very achievable near-term target. Analysts Are Getting Louder The analyst community is doing its part to support the bull case. Already this month, both JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America have reiterated their Overweight ratings and issued fresh price targets. JPMorgan raised its target to $240, while BofA raised its target to $248. Both calls reflect growing confidence that Amazon's underlying business remains robust, especially on the AWS side, and that it's well-positioned to continue outpacing expectations. These new targets align broadly with other analysts' bullish stance throughout the year, but they are far from the most optimistic. The team over at Tigress Financial reiterated their Buy rating last month and boosted their price target to a street-high $305, which implies more than 40% upside from current levels. Amazon Loves to Rally Into Earnings The final reason to be excited about the potential upside in the weeks ahead is Amazon's pattern of running into earnings. With the next report due in late July, this dynamic should help drive an imminent breakout. We saw this in the run-up to the May report when shares rallied sharply in the weeks before the results. The same pattern played out in February and again last November. That kind of consistency makes it a fairly reliable playbook, especially when combined with broader bullish market sentiment. This time around, the conditions are arguably even better. The major indices are once again flirting with fresh all-time highs, investor appetite for mega-cap tech is surging again, and Amazon's fundamentals look stronger than ever. If recent history is any guide, smart investors will start building or adding to positions starting now, ahead of the July report. When a stock with this kind of chart and analyst support also has a history of rallying to earnings (that it then beats), it's hard to stay on the sidelines. Where Should You Invest $1,000 Right Now? Before you make your next trade, you'll want to hear this. MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. Our team has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and none of the big name stocks were on the list. They believe these five stocks are the five best companies for investors to buy now...
News.com.au
a day ago
- Business
- News.com.au
Amazon staff fire up after CEO Andy Jassy drops artificial intelligence bombshell
The boss of tech giant Amazon has just said the quiet part out loud about what artificial intelligence advancements means for the workforce – and employees are not happy. CEO Andy Jassy, who took over from founder Jeff Bezos in 2021, dropped a bombshell on employees, revealing he expects the rise of generative AI to 'reduce' Amazon's corporate workforce over the coming years. The warning was part of a recent memo shared on the company's website, in which he talks about how, as the company 'leans into' generative AI services, it will 'change the way our work is done'. 'We will need fewer people doing some of the jobs that are being done today, and more people doing other types of jobs,' Ms Jassy wrote. 'It's hard to know exactly where this nets out over time, but in the next few years, we expect that this will reduce our total corporate workforce as we get efficiency gains from using AI extensively across the company.' Do you have a workplace story you want to share? Contact Amazon's corporate workforce is estimated to include around 350,000 people, with the company's total workforce totalling more than 1.5 million workers. The tech company already has more than 1000 generative AI services and applications in progress or being built, with the CEO stating this represents just a 'small fraction' of what they ultimately want to create. Mr Jassy encouraged staff to be 'curious' about AI and to educate themselves on the technology, suggesting they use it to figure out 'how to get more done with scrappier teams'. The bold statement that the company plans to cut jobs in line with technology advancements, unsurprisingly, hasn't gone down too well with Amazon employees. Dozens of messages, reviewed by Business Insider, sent on internal Slack channels allegedly showed staff up in arms following the memo. Many staff members reportedly pushed back, saying the company should be viewing AI as a way to aid productivity rather than downsizing the workforce. 'We need to lead the change in reframing AI as partners (even teammates or colleagues) rather than AI as replacements or tools. It's a slightly different vision than the one Andy alludes to,' one person wrote, according to the publication. In a sarcastic jab, another reportedly said that there was nothing more inspiring than reading that a person's role might be replaced by AI within a few years. One employee branded the focus on cost cutting over customer satisfaction 'dangerous', claiming it could have 'real consequences'. Other sentiments included concerns around using headcount cuts to measure success and the potential ramifications of relying too much on AI. It comes as the head of one of the world's most powerful artificial intelligence labs recently warned the technology could eliminate half of all entry-level, white-collar jobs within the next five years. Anthropic chief executive officer Dario Amodei told CNN's Anderson Cooper that politicians and businesses are not prepared for the spike in unemployment rates AI could prompt. 'AI is starting to get better than humans at almost all intellectual tasks, and we're going to collectively, as a society, grapple with it,' the 42-year-old said. 'AI is going to get better at what everyone does, including what I do, including what other CEOs do.' Anthropic's AI can work nearly seven hours a day, he said, and has the skills typically required of entry-level corporate workers – 'the ability to summarise a document, analyse a bunch of sources and put it into a report, write computer code' – at the same standard 'as a smart college student'. Amazon's new memo isn't the only AI-related announcement from a major company in recent months that has sparked concern. In March, Shopify CEO Tobi Lutke told staff that they would now be expected to prove why certain jobs can't be done using AI. 'Before asking for more Headcount and resources, teams must demonstrate why they cannot get what they want done using AI,' he said. 'What would this area look like if autonomous AI agents were already part of the team? This question can lead to really fun discussions and projects.' The bold announcement was included in an internal memo sent by Mr Lutke, with the CEO then sharing it to his own social media after hearing that it was 'being leaked' and 'presumably shown in bad faith'. The lengthy memo also stated that the use of AI was a 'fundamental expectation of everyone at Shopify', with Mr Lutke also stating AI usage questions would be included in performance and peer review questionnaire. The CEO's email has gained widespread attention, with responses split between praise for embracing new technology and horror at seemingly encouraging the replacement of jobs by AI. One respondent branded the CEO's position as 'cold and lacking empathy to humans', while another claimed they would resign on the spot if their employer sent out this type of directive. Others questioned why the onus should be on the staff to prove the role can't be done by AI, rather than on the company to prove that AI can do a better job than a human. There were also concerns about what this type of mindset meant for graduates who are just entering the workforce and would likely be going into the types of roles the company is encouraging staff to use AI to complete. One person said that, while they believe encouraging AI is the right path, it was 'just a scary one' as it leads to less employment for people over time. 'It also starts to beg the question of how does the next generation get into the workforce if traditional entry level jobs are now being done by AI,' they wrote.
Malay Mail
2 days ago
- Business
- Malay Mail
Microsoft's AI bet deepens, thousands of jobs on the line
NEW YORK, June 19 — Microsoft is planning to cut thousands of jobs, particularly in sales, as the tech giant streamlines its workforce amid increased investments in artificial intelligence, Bloomberg News reported yesterday, citing people familiar with the matter. The latest layoffs follow Microsoft's previous round of job cuts in May, which affected about 6,000 employees. The tech giant has ramped up its investments in AI, aiming to solidify its leadership as companies across industries accelerate the integration of AI into their products and services to maintain a competitive edge. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said on Tuesday that the rollout of generative AI and agents will reduce its total corporate workforce in the next few years. Microsoft has planned a capital expenditure of US$80 billion (RM341 billion) this fiscal year, with most of it aimed at expanding data centres to ease capacity bottlenecks for AI services. The layoffs are expected to be announced early next month, following the end of the tech giant's fiscal year, the report said. Microsoft declined to comment on the report. The job cuts will not exclusively affect the sales teams, and the timing could still change, the report added. Microsoft had 228,000 workers as of June last year. — Reuters
Reuters
2 days ago
- Business
- Reuters
Microsoft prepared to walk away from high-stakes talks with OpenAI, FT reports
June 18 (Reuters) - Microsoft (MSFT.O), opens new tab is prepared to walk away from its high-stakes talks with OpenAI over the future of its multibillion-dollar alliance, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday. The tech giant has considered halting complex discussions with the ChatGPT maker if the two sides remain unable to agree on critical issues such as the size of Microsoft's future stake in OpenAI, the report said, citing people familiar with the matter. Microsoft and OpenAI did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Microsoft planning thousands of job cuts aimed at salespeople, Bloomberg News reports
(Reuters) -Microsoft is planning to cut thousands of jobs, particularly in sales, as part of a broader effort to streamline its workforce while ramping up investments in artificial intelligence, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday. The layoffs are expected to be announced early next month, following the end of the tech giant's fiscal year, the report said, citing people familiar with the matter. Microsoft did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. Error while retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data
