Solid Amazon Results Could Push Shares to Another Record High

(Bloomberg) -- It’s been a good day for Amazon.com Inc. investors. Tomorrow could be even better.

The shares rose more than 4 percent Thursday, propelled by strong earnings from Facebook Inc. and other tech peers. The stock is trading only 5 percent shy of its record closing high from March 12, a gap that could easily disappear if the e-commerce giant reports strong first-quarter results this afternoon.

Options traders are expecting Amazon shares to move about 6.8 percent following earnings, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That move could be to the upside, as analysts see the company topping revenue estimates amid record consumer sentiment levels and an expanding Prime membership base. Revenue has beat expectations in each of the past four quarters.

But with expectations running high, it may take more than another beat to fuel a rally in the shares. Traders have punished some stocks this quarter after better-than-expected numbers, including Twitter Inc., which fell as much as 7.7 percent Wednesday on concern its growth may slow in the second half of the year on tougher year-over-year comparisons.

--With assistance from Richard Richtmyer

To contact the reporter on this story: Courtney Dentch in New York at cdentch1@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Chris Nagi at chrisnagi@bloomberg.net, Catherine Larkin, Jeran Wittenstein

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