The holiday 2019 shopping frenzy is off to a raucous start.
There was some good news this week for those worried that cooling consumerism was weakening the economy. The “Black Friday / Cyber Monday” shopping frenzy scored a record high in 2019.
According to Adobe Analytics(NASDAQ: ADBE), Cyber Monday sales were on track to shatter previous peaks, scoring $9.4 billion, a roughly 19% increase from last year. Meanwhile, Black Friday had its own record-breaking performance, to the tune of $7.4 billion in online sales. Then there was also “Small-Business Saturday” in-between, with its own record $3.6 billion in online sales.
This is good news for retail outlets heading into the holiday season. With global trade concerns and reports of a slowing worldwide economy, there was growing tension as major retailers such as Macy’s(NYSE: M) posted weaker forecasts at a time when shopping is supposed to be on an uptick. It is a similar story in Canada, where industry experts have been predicting that Q4 2019 will be a challenging timefor retailers.
Maybe shoppers aren’t passing through the doors of brick and mortar shops as much as they used to, but they are definitely spending via their computers and phones. Does this mean some of the biggest online retailers are a definite buy?
Taking a look at the company in constant pole-position in this category, Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) closed 1.8% lower on Monday, despite better-than-expected holiday sales data. Given the recent record territory that the major Wall Street markets have been carving, Amazon’s stock hasn’t seen that same success. AMZN shares are still down more than 13% from its 52-week high and it is the second-worst performing FAANG stock of the year, beating only Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX). Even so, on the back of this solid Black Friday / Cyber Monday sales data, coupled with the overall solid performance of the Nasdaq heading into the holiday season, AMZN’s less-than-stellar performance could actually make it more of a bargain stock.
A couple other online retailers worth looking further into:
Blue Apron Holdings Inc. (NYSE: APRN) - Currently streamlining its business, this online retailer with farmers and artisans to deliver food products and recipes for cooking at home. This stock has bounced back substantially.
(APRN stock chart. Click to enlarge.)
TripAdvisor (NASDAQ:TRIP) - The world's largest travel platform, essentially an online DIY travel agent.
Shutterfly Inc. (NASDAQ:SFLY) - Sells personalized photo products, such as photo albums.
Online retailers are capturing a greater and greater proportion of consumer dollars, accounting for 10.2% of all retail sales in Q1 2019. Just about everyone shops online and the best thing you could purchase from your favourite retailer might just be some of its stock.