Amazon Stocks Jump 4.3% With Upgrade Putting AWS Cash Conversion in Focus

This article first appeared on GuruFocus.

Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN), the e-commerce and cloud giant, has a fresh Buy ratingand a $42.4 billion cash-flow hurdle. Shares rose 4.3% to $250.64 at 9:48 a.m. ET during November 2 regular trading. Phillip Securities upgraded the company from Accumulate and raised its price target to $330 from $320, The Fly reported. The bullish call puts Amazon’s ability to turn cloud earnings into cash firmly in focus.

Amazon’s October 29 results showed AWS generating $46 billion in revenue and $17.8 billion in operating income. That translates into a 38.7% operating margin, with the cloud division delivering roughly 63% of group operating income on about 23% of sales. Total revenue reached $201.9 billion, while operating income came to $28.1 billion. Yet trailing twelve-month free cash flow was negative $42.4 billion. Cloud profitability remains substantial, but expansion is consuming cash faster than the business generates…