Some investors worry that AI agents pose a risk to Amazon, but a Rosenblatt analyst thinks the company 'can navigate this period of transition largely unaffected'
Rosenblatt analyst Scott Devitt raised his price target on Amazon's stock to $360 from $335 on Wednesday.
To some investors, Amazon.com's continued dominance of the e-commerce world looks less assured in an era where artificial-intelligence agents start to make purchases on behalf of users.
But Rosenblatt analyst Scott Devitt isn't sweating the popularity of Meta Platforms' (META) Muse and other AI assistants. On Wednesday, he raised his price target on Amazon's stock (AMZN) to $360 from $335, saying he believes that the "perceived disruption risk" posed by agentic commerce is overstated.
His price target implies a 46% rise in the stock from its current price of $246.67. Devitt's upbeat note comes after Amazon shares have fallen nearly 4% since the launch of Muse on Sept. 8.
One reason Devitt is still bullish on Amazon is that he believes customers are still likely to start their shopping journeys on Amazon's site, even as AI agents proliferate. Amazon recently blocked Muse from engaging with its platform, something that Devitt thinks will help the company control shopping behaviors.
A big advantage for Amazon is its ability to personalize the shopping experience and leverage many years' worth of consumer data. Third-party agents still lack access to data on Amazon's inventory, further cementing the e-commerce giant's edge. He also pointed out that Amazon has been designing its own "Alexa for Shopping" tool to own the entire shopping process.
Devitt made the argument that Amazon's retail operations are actually likely to benefit from agentic commerce, even if consumers click on fewer ads because they're using AI agents to shop. Amazon also could offset pressure on the advertising segment through other areas of the business, he reasoned, noting that any pressure would likely amount to just a small fraction of overall revenue.
As of now, he thinks Amazon "can navigate this period of transition largely unaffected."
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-Hannah Pedone
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