What's Behind the Amazon Stock Bounce Ahead of Q2 Earnings?

Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) shares are trading higher Thursday morning as traders rally around AWS momentum ahead of the company’s quarterly earnings release after the bell.

• Amazon.com shares are consolidating. What should traders watch with AMZN?

What To Watch For Amazon’s Q2 Earnings

The setup into the quarter is centered on whether AWS can again outshine the core retail story, after the company posted 17% revenue growth in the first quarter with AWS up 28% and described that cloud growth as the fastest in 15 quarters.

For the upcoming second-quarter print, analysts have penciled in revenue of $196.02 billion and EPS of $1.82, while management guided revenue to a $194 billion to $199 billion range.

Amazon is also trading into a more skeptical AI-capex backdrop after since the start of June, big AI spenders (including Amazon) have underperformed the broader market in a chart circulated by Michael Burry. That framing raises the bar for AWS commentary to show returns on investment, not just higher spend.

Critical Levels To Watch For AMZN Stock

At $235.00, the stock is still trading 3.2% below its 20-day SMA ($242.72) and 4.9% below its 50-day SMA ($246.97), which keeps the intermediate trend in "repair mode" even with the premarket bounce. The one bright spot is longer-term support: shares are sitting just 0.1% above the 200-day SMA ($234.66), a level that often acts like a line in the sand for trend followers.

Momentum is leaning cautious: MACD is below its signal line and the histogram is negative, which points to upside pressure cooling unless buyers can push price back above those shorter moving averages. Structurally, the 20-day SMA remains below the 50-day SMA (bearish), but the golden cross from May (50-day above 200-day) suggests the bigger-picture uptrend hasn’t fully broken.

• Key Resistance: $249.50 — a nearby ceiling that lines up with the area above the 50-day SMA where rebounds can stall
• Key Support: $225.00 — a nearby floor that sits below the 200-day area and marks a level traders may watch if the premarket strength fades

Amazon.Com Benzinga Edge Scorecard Overview

Below is the Benzinga Edge scorecard for Amazon.com, highlighting its strengths and weaknesses compared to the broader market:

• Momentum: Weak (Score: 18.6) — The stock’s recent tape is lagging, which fits with price still sitting under key short-term moving averages.
• Quality: Neutral (Score: 51.82) — The fundamentals screen as middle-of-the-pack, so the story is leaning more on execution and growth than "quality" defensiveness.
• Value: Neutral (Score: 58.05) — Not screaming cheap or expensive on this model, though the market is still paying a premium multiple for durable growth.
• Growth: Strong (Score: 95.68) — Growth is the clear pillar, aligning with the market’s focus on AWS and scaling profit drivers like ads.

The Verdict: Amazon.Com’s Benzinga Edge signal reveals a growth-heavy profile with weak near-term momentum. For longer-term bulls, that often means the next sustained move may depend on fundamentals (AWS and guidance) re-accelerating enough to pull price back above the 20-day and 50-day trend lines.

AMZN Stock Price Movement Thursday Morning

AMZN Stock Price Activity: Amazon.com shares were up 3.85% at $235.38 Thursday morning, according to Benzinga Pro data.

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