Amazon's (NASDAQ:AMZN) seasonal hires are a "bullish leading indicator" for expected continued retail share gains, according to Morgan Stanley analysts.
Amazon announced it has made 250,000 seasonal hires. The analyst notes that this is up from the 150,000 added in 2021 and 25% above the previous peak of 200,000 in 2019.
"Strong growth in hires for the holiday season is a positive indicator of expected future demand, particularly when compared to seasonal additions from other retail players," said the analysts, who have an Overweight rating and a $175 price target on the stock.
Morgan Stanley believes the strong number of hires continues to reinforce the idea of further retail share gains for AMZN.
However, "while the headline employee number is large, we note the 250k workers is not unusual when adjusted for the scale of AMZN's current business," they said.
"In our view, if holiday demand comes through (we model AMZN N. American GMV to grow ~14% Y/Y in 4Q) we would expect continued operating leverage in AMZN's model...painting a potential path toward $5+ of GAAP EPS in '25," they added. The analysts also stated they see strong retail top-line driving EBIT beats ahead.