synopsis

The Wall Street research firm lowered its price target on Amazon shares but maintained an 'Overweight' rating.

Morgan Stanley lowered its estimates for Amazon.com's (AMZN) earnings and cloud services growth, and slashed its price target on its shares in response to headwinds from the recent tariff announcements and consumer trends.

The Wall Street research firm lowered its expectations for the U.S. e-commerce industry's growth. However, it kept a bullish view on Amazon and said the impact of the current macroeconomic factors might take several quarters to fully show.

President Donald Trump announced a base 10% tariff on all trading partners and a higher rate on several countries on April 2, causing shockwaves across global markets.

His moves last week to pause specific tariffs for 90 days and lower the rate on smartphones, computers, and electronics — while temporarily relieving some industries — have frustrated businesses and investors looking for policy consistency.

Morgan Stanley lowered its price target on Amazon to $245 from $280 and maintained an 'Overweight' rating, according to an investor note published on Sunday.

"Expect AMZN's scale, buyer/seller advantages, logistics leadership and marketplace structure to enable the company to weather challenges better than most retailers," analysts led by Brian Nowak said.

The firm lowered its 2025 and 2026 growth forecast for Amazon Web Services (AWS) by 1% and 2%, respectively, to 16% in both years and its 2026 earnings per share forecast for Amazon by 10% to $7.

For the U.S. e-commerce industry, the firm now projects a 6% growth in 2025 and 2026, compared to its prior estimates of 7% for both years.

According to its projections, Amazon's market share should increase from 39% in 2024 to 40% this year and 41% in 2026.

Amazon shares snapped a nine-week losing streak last week but are down 17% year-to-date as of their last close.

On Stocktwits, retail sentiment dropped to 'Neutral' from 'Bullish' from a day prior, while the message volume stayed 'High.'

AMZN sentiment and message volume as of April 15 | Source: Stocktwits

Morgan Stanley's revision is similar to the recent price actions by other analysts such as DA Davidson and Citi.

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