The Smartest Retail Stock to Buy With $1,000 Right Now
October 23, 2025
Amazon — the biggest retail stock in the world — is cheaper right now than it’s been in a decade by at least two key measures.
With the price of seemingly everything on the rise this year, the chance to score an actual deal on something is a real treat. Add in the fact that my top retail pick is not some no-name brand coming out of the damaged or defective bin and you have yourself an absolute steal.
I think it’s a great time to put $1,000 into shares of Amazon (AMZN 1.85%).
With its $2.3 trillion market cap, Amazon is already the most valuable of the 77 members of the SPDR S&P Retail ETF (XRT 0.43%), weighing in at almost three times the size of second-ranked Walmart.
Despite its size and roughly 40% share of total U.S. e-commerce sales, Amazon’s 1.3% year-to-date gain is well behind the 8% advance posted by the SPDR S&P Retail ETF and the nearly 15% increase by the S&P 500 index through Oct. 20.
Amazon
Today’s Change
(-1.85%) $-4.11
Current Price
$217.92
Over the past month, economic concerns, tariff worries, and general geopolitical jitters have been happening as Amazon’s stock slipped by almost 4%.
Beyond the fact that 66 of 68 analysts who cover Amazon currently rate it a buy or strong buy with an average 12-month price target of $266 — which is about 20% above current levels — the Seattle-based retail giant is in almost unprecedented valuation space right now by two key measures.
Image source: Amazon.
The really amazing part
Amazon’s forward P/E ratio is 34 times expected earnings over the next 12 months. While that’s still about 50% higher than the S&P 500’s equivalent ratio, it’s actually the cheapest that Amazon has been by that measure in a decade.
Said another way, since 2015, Amazon’s forward P/E ratio has been higher than it is right now 99% of the time.
Another bellwether valuation is also in historic territory. Specifically, Amazon’s gross profit margin of 49.6% delivered over the past 12 months lands it in the 100th percentile, meaning at no time in the past 10 years has Amazon been more profitable.
In short, long-term investors who’ve waited for a good entry point to own the digital retailing giant should look no further, and also feel comfortable that they’re getting a fair price.
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