Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN)

It reports Thursday. It's become a battleground. When it reports, it tends to fade. He still believes in it, though it hasn't been a good returner.

Key will be how well it executes on new chip that it's introducing. Stock hasn't done that well over past year, so this would be a good entry point, especially if the execution goes well. Doesn't own, as small-cap plays should have more upside in next 2-3 years.

North American retail, international retail and AWS are strong businesses. They lead in the cloud with AWS. Will be a prime beneficiary of robotics. Trades at 30x PE at 15% EPS growth.

Lots going on with the Mag 7 right now. YTD, up 3%. Announcing more layoffs yet again -- to pay for the capex being spent. Lagged both GOOG and MSFT in terms of hyperscalers, AI, and data centres last year; due to AWS not growing as it used to. E-commerce margins aren't growing due to big costs delivering that final mile.

He favours MSFT as a play on data centres and quantum computing. Better that investors choose between GOOG and MSFT as better opportunities moving forward.

Only Google and Nvidia in the Mag 7 outperformed the S&P last year. Amazon gained only 5.2%. Sometimes good companies aren't getting recognition. Be patient and it will pay off. Their e-commerce commands 41% of online sales. AWS controls 30% of the cloud business. Fundamentals are good.

It is at a good valuation for an entry point. Has three main businesses in Europe, US and AWS. The main driver is AWS and the world is moving to digitization. It is well positioned and well priced in growth for this. Growth over the past 10 years is quite staggering. It is well capitalized - he would like it to pay a dividend but it probably won't. May sell off a division.       Buy 81, Hold 4, Sell 0

What he really likes is that it lagged the other Mag 7's and the S&P over the last 12 months. Yet fundamentals have only been getting better. Today it's not about e-commerce, but more about the AWS cloud system (primary driver of profitability). Earnings will grow ~19%, and stock's trading ~30x forward PE -- that's a PEG of only 1.5x, pretty inexpensive. 

Use of AI and robotics in fulfillment centres is greater than ever. This lowers costs and drives operating margins higher. Long-term trends on the chart remain intact. No dividend.

Now the largest or second-largest holding in his global equity fund. Growing faster and with higher margins than WMT or COST, yet trades at big discount to those two. Believes AI division will grow over 20% over for next 2-3 years. Has power capacity available, while other companies are still searching. Lots of upside optionality on the AWS side for 2026.

Retail business is wildly profitable now in US and Canada, less so internationally. What you're banking on is AWS cloud services and its place in distributing AI through society. Durable growth, very low valuation, profitability improving across divisions. No dividend.

(He chose this instead of MSFT, already a Past Top Pick. With MSFT, demand is there; with AMZN, you're almost certain that demand is there. Likes both, prefers MSFT by a hair.)

Investments in robotics hurt short-term but will benefit their long-term; robotics will replace jobs and save $4 billion (estimated) in coming years. That should help the bottom line.

His top pick for 2026. It had a lousy 2025, a stall. It will catch up in 2026 given AWS, Prime, logistics--many levers to pull. Shares will soon catch up to fundamentals.

The Mag 7 are losing momentum. Growth potential has been great, but is declining now. They face a problem in all the energy needed to power the AI stocks. Amazon has been a laggard among peers. But its retail business generates revenues to offset potential weakness in other business, something that Amazon's peers face.

Would rather own Meta or Nvidia than Amazon, because the former have better multiples and earnings growth (for 2026). It's a wait-and-see, because it's only 11% EPS growth in 2026 and trades at nearly 30x PE vs. Meta at 22x and 21%, for instance.

He bets that in 2026 Amazon will do what Alphabet did this year and Apple since May. Is not talking numbers. No company has as many pistons firing as this: AWS, AI investments, retail business, the logistics business.

Shares are in no-man's land and up less than 4% this year, but it will go higher in the future. It trades at 32x PE, and 29x forward, with 11% EPS growth for 2026, not cheap, but historically cheap. It has always been a high capex company, but not outrageously so. They put in 3-straight higher lows. One day it will break $238. Be ready for it.