How to buy Amazon (AMZN) shares in the UK

The tech giant was one of the few stock market success stories in 2020, pushing to new highs as lockdowns and working from home requirements pushed shoppers online. But the announcement that founder and CEO Jeff Bezos would be stepping down in early February has led to speculation that AMZN stock may see more volatility going forward.

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How has coronavirus impacted Amazon's share price?

Since the stock market crash that started in February 2020, Amazon's share price has had significant positive movement.

Its last market close was $3206.22, which is 34.63% up on its pre-crash value of $2095.97 and 97.18% up on the lowest point reached during the March 2020 crash when the shares fell as low as $1626.0318.

If you had bought $1,000 worth of Amazon shares at the start of February 2020, those shares would have been worth $951.42 at the bottom of the March crash, and if you held on to them, then as of the last market close they'd be worth $1,603.11.

Amazon share price (NASDAQ:AMZN)

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Fees for buying 3x Amazon shares with popular platforms

Both exchange rates and share prices fluctuate in real time, so the costs presented here should be considered as a guide only. They do not incorporate stamp duty. Always refer to the platform itself for availability and pricing – which may differ from our information.

Platform	Platform fee	Min. initial deposit	Trading fee estimate
	£0	$200	£39.88 £8,016.11 total	Go to site Capital at risk
	£0	No minimum	£79.76 £8,055.99 total	Go to site Capital at risk
	£0	No minimum	£35.89 £8,012.12 total	Go to site Capital at risk
	£0	£0.01	£8.41 £7,984.64 total	Go to site Capital at risk
	£0	£50	£39.89 £8,016.12 total	Go to site Capital at risk
	£0	£1	£91.72 £8,067.95 total	Go to site Capital at risk
	£9.99 per month	No minimum	£127.64 £8,103.87 total	Go to site Capital at risk
	£36 per year	£20	£109.21 £8,085.44 total	Read review Capital at risk

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Is it a good time to buy Amazon stock?

The technical analysis gauge below displays real-time ratings for the timeframes you select. This is not a recommendation, however. It represents a technical analysis based on the most popular technical indicators: Moving Averages, Oscillators and Pivots. Finder might not concur and takes no responsibility.

Is Amazon under- or over-valued?

Valuing a stock is incredibly difficult, and any metric has to be viewed as part of a bigger picture of overall performance. However, analysts commonly use some key metrics to help gauge value.

P/E ratio

Amazon's current share price divided by its per-share earnings (EPS) over a 12-month period gives a "trailing price/earnings ratio" of roughly 69x. In other words, Amazon shares trade at around 69x recent earnings.

That's relatively high compared to, say, the trailing 12-month P/E ratio for the NASDAQ 100 at the end of 2019 (27.29). The high P/E ratio could mean that investors are optimistic about the outlook for the shares or simply that they're over-valued.

However, Amazon's P/E ratio is best considered in relation to those of others within the internet retail industry or those of similar companies.

• Facebook (FB.US): 30.09
• Apple (AAPL.US): 33.00
• Netflix (NFLX.US): 53.03
• Alphabet (GOOGL.US): 34.23
• Alibaba Group Holding (BABA.US): 25.32

PEG ratio

Amazon's "price/earnings-to-growth ratio" can be calculated by dividing its P/E ratio by its growth – to give 1.4409. A PEG ratio over 1 can be interpreted as meaning shares are overvalued at the current rate of growth, or may anticipate an acceleration in growth.

The PEG ratio provides a broader view than just the P/E ratio, as it gives more insight into Amazon's future profitability. By accounting for growth, it could also help you if you're comparing the share prices of multiple high-growth companies.

However, it's sensible to consider Amazon's PEG ratio in relation to those of similar companies.

• Facebook (FB.US): 1.15
• Apple (AAPL.US): 2.26
• Netflix (NFLX.US): 1.59
• Alphabet (GOOGL.US): 1.45
• Alibaba Group Holding (BABA.US): 1.95

EBITDA

Amazon's EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) is a whopping $57.2 billion (£41.6 billion).

The EBITDA is a measure of a Amazon's overall financial performance and is widely used to measure a its profitability.

To put that into context you can compare it against similar companies.

• Facebook (FB.US): USD$45.4 billion
• Apple (AAPL.US): USD$99.8 billion
• Netflix (NFLX.US): USD$6.2 billion
• Alphabet (GOOGL.US): USD$63 billion
• Alibaba Group Holding (BABA.US): USD$128.5 billion

How to short and sell Amazon shares

1. Create a CFD or spread betting account.
2. Search for the stock code. E.g. "AMZN.US"
3. Choose your position size.
4. Select "sell" rather than "buy".
5. Confirm your position and keep tabs on it. You may wish to set limits on your position.

There are currently 4.5 million Amazon shares held short by investors – that's known as the "short interest". This figure is 6.4% down from 4.8 million last month.

There are a few different ways that this level of interest in shorting Amazon shares can be evaluated.

Short interest ratio (SIR)

Amazon's "short interest ratio" (SIR) is the quantity of Amazon shares currently shorted divided by the average quantity of Amazon shares traded daily (recently around 3.1 million). Amazon's SIR currently stands at 1.48. In other words for every 100,000 Amazon shares traded daily on the market, roughly 1480 shares are currently held short.

To gain some more context, you can compare Amazon's short interest ratio against those of similar companies.

• Facebook (FB.US): 1.76
• Apple (AAPL.US): 1.24
• Netflix (NFLX.US): 2.7
• Alphabet (GOOGL.US): 2.23
• Alibaba Group Holding (BABA.US): 3.83

However Amazon's short interest can also be evaluated against the total number of Amazon shares, or, against the total number of tradable Amazon shares (the shares that aren't held by "insiders" or major long-term shareholders – also known as the "float"). In this case Amazon's short interest could be expressed as 0.01% of the outstanding shares (for every 100,000 Amazon shares in existence, roughly 10 shares are currently held short) or 0.01% of the tradable shares (for every 100,000 tradable Amazon shares, roughly 10 shares are currently held short).

Such a low SIR usually points to an optimistic outlook for the share price, with fewer people currently willing to bet against Amazon.

Find out more about how you can short Amazon stock.

Environmental, social and governance track record

Environmental, social and governance (known as ESG) criteria are a set of three factors used to measure the sustainability and social impact of companies like Amazon.

Total ESG risk score

Amazon's total ESG risk: 33.42

Socially conscious investors use ESG scores to screen how an investment aligns with their worldview, and Amazon's overall score of 33.42 (as at 12/31/2018) is nothing to write home about – landing it in it in the 52nd percentile of companies rated in the same sector.

ESG scores are increasingly used to estimate the level of risk a company like Amazon is exposed to within the areas of "environmental" (carbon footprint, resource use etc.), "social" (health and safety, human rights etc.), and "governance" (anti-corruption, tax transparency etc.).

To gain some more context, you can compare Amazon's total ESG risk score against those of similar companies.

• Facebook (FB.US): 29.40
• Apple (AAPL.US): 26.15
• Netflix (NFLX.US): 21.55
• Alphabet (GOOGL.US): 20.35
• Alibaba Group Holding (BABA.US): 28.21

Environmental score

Amazon's environmental score: 10.63/100

Amazon's environmental score of 10.63 puts it squarely in the 7th percentile of companies rated in the same sector. This could suggest that Amazon is a leader in its sector terms of its environmental impact, and exposed to a lower level of risk.

Social score

Amazon's social score: 18.52/100

Amazon's social score of 18.52 puts it squarely in the 7th percentile of companies rated in the same sector. This could suggest that Amazon is a leader in its sector when it comes to taking good care of its workforce and the communities it impacts.

Governance score

Amazon's governance score: 12.78/100

Amazon's governance score puts it squarely in the 7th percentile of companies rated in the same sector. That could suggest that Amazon is a leader in its sector when it comes to responsible management and strategy, and exposed to a lower level of risk.

Controversy score

Amazon's controversy score: 3/5

ESG scores also evaluate any incidences of controversy that a company has been involved in. A high-profile company, Amazon scored a 3 out of 5 for controversy – a middle-of-the-table result reflecting that Amazon hasn't always managed to keep its nose clean.

Wondering how that compares? Below are the controversy scores of similar companies.

• Facebook (FB.US): 4
• Apple (AAPL.US): 3
• Netflix (NFLX.US): 2
• Alphabet (GOOGL.US): 4
• Alibaba Group Holding (BABA.US): 2

Amazon share dividends

We're not expecting Amazon to pay a dividend over the next 12 months. However, you can browse other dividend-paying shares in our guide.

You may also wish to consider:

• Apple (AAPL.US) (0.56% dividend yield)

Have Amazon's shares ever split?

Amazon's shares were split on a 2:1 basis on 1 September 1999. So if you had owned 1 share the day before before the split, the next day you'd have owned 2 shares. This wouldn't directly have changed the overall worth of your Amazon shares – just the quantity. However, indirectly, the new 50% lower share price could have impacted the market appetite for Amazon shares which in turn could have impacted Amazon's share price.

Share price volatility

Over the last 12 months, Amazon's shares have ranged in value from as little as $2871 up to $3773.0801. A popular way to gauge a stock's volatility is its "beta".

Beta is a measure of a share's volatility in relation to the market. The market (NASDAQ average) beta is 1, while Amazon's is 1.1518. This would suggest that Amazon's shares are a little bit more volatile than the average for this exchange and represent, relatively-speaking, a slightly higher risk (but potentially also market-beating returns).

To put Amazon's beta into context you can compare it against those of similar companies.

• Facebook (FB.US): 1.2982
• Apple (AAPL.US): 1.2073
• Netflix (NFLX.US): 0.7399
• Alphabet (GOOGL.US): 1.0109
• Alibaba Group Holding (BABA.US): 0.8041

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Amazon overview

Amazon.com, Inc. is an American multinational technology and e-commerce company based in Seattle, Washington. It's one of the “Big Four” tech companies alongside Google, Apple and Facebook, and one of the most valuable and well-known companies in the world.

Initially founded as Cadabra, Inc. by Jeff Bezos in Bellevue, Washington in 1994, Amazon went public in May 1997. As one of the world’s largest companies, it's also a component of the NASDAQ-100, S&P 100 and S&P 500 stock indices.

As well as being an online-retail giant, Amazon has produced hardware that's become a staple in UK homes – from the ubiquitous Fire Stick to the Echo ("Alexa!") to the Kindle. It's also popular with businesses, thanks to its cloud computing service, AWS, and its data warehouse service, Redshift (amongst others).

In 2005 Amazon launched its "Prime" subscription service, which offers free delivery on purchases made through Amazon plus access to streamed TV and music. Since 2015 the company has held an annual "Prime Day" on which Prime subscribers can access a number of exclusive discounts.

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Frequently asked questions

• Where can I buy Amazon shares?

  Amazon (AMZN) is only available on the NASDAQ stock exchange in the US (NASDAQ: AMZN). It is also a component of many leading stock market indices, including the NASDAQ-100, S&P 100 and S&P 500. In the UK, Amazon shares can be bought using a broker or trading platform that offers access to the NASDAQ.

• Is it a good time to invest in Amazon?

  According to investing sites like IG and the Motley Fool, now may be a good time to buy shares in Amazon, as the company is likely to prosper during the coronavirus pandemic. Like most stocks, the price of Amazon shares has experienced significant volatility over recent weeks. However, the Amazon share price has fared much better than most during the current crisis, as demand for online shopping has risen in light of social distancing measures. Those looking to invest in Amazon shares need to consider how well-positioned the company is to deal with the coronavirus pandemic in both the short- and long-term.

• How many Amazon shares are there?

  There are currently 500.89m Amazon shares outstanding, which is the total number of all Amazon stock currently held by all its shareholders. However, the total amount of Amazon floating stock is 425.27m, which is the number of shares held by non-insiders or controlling investors, and which is therefore free to be traded on the stock exchange.

• How much Amazon stock does Jeff Bezos own?

  Jeff Bezos still owns more than 54m Amazon shares, despite already selling over $7 billion in 2020. This means he still owns at least 10% of all Amazon stock. He has said he plans to sell around $1 billion of Amazon stock each year to find his space exploration company Blue Origin.

• How much Amazon stock does MacKenzie Bezos own?

  MacKenzie Bezos received around 19.7 million Amazon shares when she divorced Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos in 2019. According to an SEC filing, she sold around 200,000 Amazon shares (worth around $400m) in early 2020, leaving her with around 19.5m Amazon shares.

• What percentage of Amazon is owned by insiders or institutions?

  Currently 13.671% of Amazon shares are held by insiders and 59.17% by institutions.

• How many people work for Amazon?

  Latest data suggests 1,271,000 work at Amazon.

• When does the fiscal year end for Amazon?

  Amazon's fiscal year ends in December.

• Where is Amazon based?

  Amazon's address is: 410 Terry Avenue North, Seattle, WA, United States, 98109-5210

• What is Amazon's ISIN number?

  Amazon's international securities identification number is: US0231351067

• What is Amazon's CUSIP number?

  Amazon's Committee on Uniform Securities Identification Procedures number is: 023135106