Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) shares were higher in pre-market trading on Tuesday after Jefferies International raised its price target for the ecommerce giant to US$1,850 from US$1,750 a share.
In a note to clients, the US broker’s analysts predicted the Nasdaq-listed company's advertising business could grow by more than 40% annually through 2022 to reach US$22bn.
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They also believe, however, that growth in Amazon's ad business won't hurt technology rivals such as Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) and Google-owner Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)
Amazon shares, which have closed at a record high in the past six sessions, were up 0.6% to US$1,607.75 in pre-market New York trading.
Later in the session, shares eased 0.38% to stand at US$1,592.34.