After flirting with a $1 trillion market cap a few different times, tech giant Amazon finally hit the mark on its fifth try Tuesday afternoon when shares climbed 2.3% to close above $1 trillion for the first time in company history.
Amazon was valued at $1.021 trillion after Tuesday’s close. The stock was trading slightly higher Wednesday morning, further solidifying its position among fellow tech titans. Around 9:55 a.m. on the East Coast, the stock was trading 0.4% higher at $2,057.99.
The company now joins Microsoft, Facebook and Apple, which was the first to join the exclusive club in August 2018. Amazon hit the mark on Sept. 4, 2018, but failed to close above $1 trillion, which is when market capitalizations are actually considered. It also flirted with the four comma club in July 2019.
More recently, Amazon hit the mark Friday after a gangbuster earnings report Thursday, and then again on Monday.
Amazon is rallying after a strong 4Q earnings report that beat Wall Street expectations by more than $2 per share. Their revenue for 2019’s fourth quarter was $87.4 billion, which also beat expectations of $86 billion.
The company has grown on a consistent drive to expand within the market.
“Amazon famously started as a book seller and (CEO Jeff) Bezos saw the opportunity for Amazon Web Services, the marketplace, advertising, a delivery fleet and other services that created a trillion-dollar company,” Banyan Hill Publishing analyst Michael Carr said last week.
Google parent Alphabet also closed above $1 trillion in January, but it has struggled to maintain its position over the last couple of weeks. It closed just below the mark at $996 billion Tuesday, according to YCharts.
And analysts believe FAANG (Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix and Google) companies will continue to increase their market valuations. Wedbush Securities analyst Daniel Ives believes those five stocks alone will drive the tech industry’s stocks up another 25% this year, according to MarketWatch.
Jeff Bezos apparently saw an opportunity to sell amid Amazon’s upward drive following its fourth quarter beat. According to Securities and Exchange Commission filings, the Amazon CEO sold off 905,456 shares in prearranged sales Friday and Monday. The sale totaled $1.84 billion for the man who sits at the top of the Bloomberg Billionaires Index with a net worth of $127 billion.
