Getting Ready For Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN)’s Amazon Go

But this may be good news for companies such as Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN). With a plan to integrate their products and services into the real world, and not just online, the retailer is in a very good position to take advantage of new technologies to help with the transition from human laborers to more automated systems. Amazon is one of the largest companies in the S&P 500 by market capitalization. Its stock has received a lot of attention over the last several years because its performance has been outstanding.

Since the company went public in 1997, its stock has returned about 38,000%. That’s an annual compounded rate of 35%. The company is certainly not cheap to buy at this point, yet about two-thirds of its shareholders are institutional investors. Maybe professional investment managers see something in this stock retail investors don’t. With an earnings multiple usually between 100 to 200-times, Amazon.com investors have to be able to stomach a lot of volatility. But with $138 billion in sales, it is currently the market leader in the online realm. It also has a huge cloud business which serves the needs of companies such as Netflix.

Overall Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) has proven that it knows how to expand into new sectors of the economy using its technology and innovative strategies. The next challenge for Amazon is obviously becoming a big competitor to brick and mortar grocery companies. The potential appears to be there. If the growing trend of the business continues, then the stock, which is $757 per share today, could be higher by next year. But then again, the grocery retail business is very competitive.

Disclosure: This author owns 10 shares of AMZN as of writing this post.

Note: This post was originally published on ModestMoney.com. Check out their site for the latest investing news and analysis.