The announcement of a second Prime Day from Club holding Amazon (AMZN) sent shares of the e-commerce giant up around 2.5% on Monday. At the Investing Club, we think the event is likely to encourage Prime’s 150 million global members to up their spending ahead of the holiday season. The two-day global shopping event, dubbed the Prime Early Access Sale, is exclusively for Prime members and set to take place Oct. 11-12 in 15 countrie s. It’s a chance for members to get a jumpstart on their holiday shopping with access to thousands of deals for electronics, fashion, homewares and Amazon products, among others. Prime members worldwide bought over 300 million items during Amazon’s last Prime Day, in July. During a time when persistent inflation is weighing on consumers and retailers, advertising budgets are shrinking, and supply chain disruptions persist, Amazon’s sales have proved largely resilient in the face of economic volatility. Analysts at JMP Securities said Amazon’s second Prime Day could help “elongate the holiday spending period.” Consumer buying activity could help “pull forward” sales from the fourth quarter to the current quarter, easing supply chain and shipping disruptions, the analysts argued in a note Monday. Last week, we wrote about how UBS chose Amazon as its top e-commerce pick based on strong sales growth projections. Still, Amazon’s operating income suffered this year due to inflationary pressures, higher fuel costs, excess warehouse space, and a hiring binge. Operating cash flow for Amazon’s fiscal second-quarter fell 40%, to $35.6 billion year-on-year. But over the last quarter, the company has prioritized managing costs in order to protect its profit margins. As a safety measure, Amazon in April added a fuel and inflation surcharge fee of 5% to the existing fees it charges to third-party sellers in the U.S. Last month, the company announced plans to raise fulfillment fees for merchants who sell their products on the site. Amazon is also likely to benefit from a slight easing in inflation and lower fuel prices. In this context, we are buying back some stock previously sold higher. On Monday, the Club purchased 75 shares of Amazon after the S & P 500 Oscillator , our trusted technical indicator, moved further into oversold territory after Friday’s selloff. In early March, we pared back some of our shares after Amazon announced a 20-for-1 stock split and $10 billion buyback . That move was followed by another sale in April after the Federal Reserve took more hawkish steps to fight inflation, with expected negative knock-on effects for Big Tech. In the Club’s portfolio we now hold 70 shares of AMZN. The stock, down about 30% year-to-date, closed up 1.2% at $115.15 a share on Monday. Bottom line We are taking a long-term view on Amazon, Jeff Marks, the Club’s director of portfolio analysis, said Monday during our daily meeting . The long-term investments the e-commerce giant has made in warehouse expansion, along with its move…
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