Earnings season is in full swing as Wall Street prepares for the latest results from some of the biggest technology companies. Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) is expected to release its December quarter earnings sometime around Jan. 29, while eBay Inc (NASDAQ:EBAY) will release its report tomorrow. Both companies typically report after closing bell. RBC Capital analyst Mark S. Mahaney and his team especially like Amazon and eBay, which follow after only Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) as their top Internet stock picks.
eBay could rebound
The RBC team suggests that eBay Inc (NASDAQ:EBAY) could see a nice rebound this year after significant underperformance last year. They said the company’s marketplace continues to grow in-line with the ecommerce industry, and they think this is because of the company’s quality initiatives. They also note that PayPal remains the leader in the payments industries after years of investment. Their price target for eBay is $59, with an $80 upside.
In addition to eBay Inc (NASDAQ:EBAY) being one of their top three “large cap ‘net longs,” they also list the company as having some of the greatest risk going into earnings. They report that there are negative data points from ChannelAdvisor and believe that the company’s own guidance for 2014 and 2015 could be overly aggressive. On the plus side though, they think expectations for eBay are pretty low
In terms of estimates for eBay, the RBC team expects to see $4.55 billion in revenue and 81 cents in pro forma earnings per share. Their expectations are essentially in line with consensus and guidance.
Amazon seen as best online retail play
The RBC team calls Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) “the best play on Online Retail” and said they see “a clear path” for the ecommerce company to gain market share. In addition, they see opportunities for new revenue growth, plus “a significant margin expansion opportunity” because of the company’s scale and also a mix shift to 3P sales. In addition they said leverage in each of the company’s operating expenditures lines will benefit it as well. They also particularly like Amazon’s management team, calling it one of the best on the Net.
They’ve got a $425 per share price target on Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) with a $500 per share upside scenario. The RBC is expecting the online retailer to post $26 billion in revenue, $798 million in pro forma operating revenue and 59 cents in GAAP earnings per share for the December quarter.
