Morgan Stanley Lifts Amazon Target to $350, Citing AI-Driven AWS Growth
Morgan Stanley designated Amazon.com (AMZN) a top pick and raised its price target to $350 from $335, a move that propelled the stock to close at $262.45 on October 19. The shares gained 4.98 percent, with trading volume reaching 54.5 million shares, approximately 4 percent above the three-month average of 38.9 million.
Morgan Stanley designated Amazon.com (AMZN) a top pick and raised its price target to $350 from $335, a move that propelled the stock to close at $262.45 on October 19. The shares gained 4.98 percent, with trading volume reaching 54.5 million shares, approximately 4 percent above the three-month average of 38.9 million.
The investment bank maintained an Overweight rating on the stock, attributing the higher valuation to the artificial intelligence boom. Morgan Stanley identified five specific catalysts for the share price increase, led by the expectation that Amazon Web Services (AWS) growth will nearly triple between 2025 and 2028 as customers adopt AI. Other factors cited include increased AWS profitability, the expansion of Amazon's Bedrock AI platform, AI-powered shopping features, and robotics.
AWS performance has been a primary driver of recent results. In the second quarter, revenue rose 37 percent year over year to $42.2 billion, marking the fastest growth rate in 18 quarters. Investors are now focused on whether this momentum continues when Amazon reports its Q3 2026 earnings on October 29.
Market context on October 19 showed mixed sentiment across major tech indices. The S&P 500 closed at 7,691, up 0.42 percent, while the Nasdaq Composite finished at 26,431, up 1.11 percent. Among peers in cloud computing and digital advertising, Microsoft (MSFT) closed at $533.52, up 0.84 percent, whereas Walmart (WMT) slipped 0.09 percent to close at $118.70.
Regulatory scrutiny remains a factor for cloud providers. Two weeks prior to the October 19 trading session, a UK competition watchdog stated that AWS and Microsoft should do more to address barriers to switching cloud providers. This regulatory environment is viewed as a longer-term overhang on valuation, alongside litigation risks.
Amazon.com went public in 1997 and has grown 263,927 percent since its initial offering. The company operates as a global platform for e-commerce, cloud computing, and digital advertising.
Filed by the newsroom of MarketPR on October 20, 2026. Source: fool.com. Indicative figures are not investment advice.