Do you want to own a piece of one of the largest companies in the world? You can, and you don’t have to start your own enterprise. Simply head to your favorite investment platform and buy a piece of Amazon.
Amazon is a staple in many investors’ portfolios, as it boasts an impressive history. Learn more about this corporate giant and Amazon stock history below.
The History of Amazon
Jeff Bezos founded the company in 1994 under the name Cadabra, Inc. Bezos intended it to become the world’s largest online bookseller. As ambitious of a dream that was, his company surpassed this goal.
After undergoing its name change in 1995, Amazon soon began to sell other products. Today, this corporation sells everything from electronics to sports equipment and fresh groceries.
Amazon doesn’t limit its offerings to physical goods. Amazon Web Services (AWS) has become one of the world’s leading cloud computing platforms.
Amazon’s Stock Price History
When Amazon stock first became available to the public in 1997, it cost a modest $18 per share. Its all-time high was $3,552 in September 2020. At the time of writing this, one share costs approximately $3,050.
What happened in the last 24 years to account for this kind of growth?
For one, Amazon has gone through multiple stock splits:
- June 1998: 2 for 1 split
- January 1999: 3 for 1 split
- September 1999: 2 for 1 split
These stock splits occurred because of the individual shares’ rapidly growing prices. Splits tend to be excellent indicators of a company’s performance.
However, with the rising popularity of mobile investment apps that allow users to buy partial shares, stock splits are becoming obsolete. So, Amazon hasn’t split its stock in more than 20 years.
Nonetheless, the share price has experienced impressive growth. It climbed steadily until 2017 when it first hit the $1,000-mark, and then it grew exponentially.
Amazon Stock & Dividends
A lot of well-established companies pay dividends to their stockholders. Dividends, which are distributions of part of a company’s earnings, are a way to reward investors for their loyalty.
Despite being in business for more than two decades, Amazon hasn’t hopped onto the dividend boat.
Amazon has never declared or paid cash dividends to its investors. Instead, it keeps all its earnings to facilitate future growth. The company uses its extra cash to:
- Build new data centers for AWS
- Open more fulfillment centers
- Hire fulfillment center personnel and software engineers
- Open Amazon Go Grocery stores
3 Interesting Facts about Amazon company
Are you interested in learning more about this impactful company? Read three interesting facts about it below:
It May Start Delivering Items within 30 Minutes
Have you ever found yourself needing some toothpaste late at night? Amazon has an innovation to fix that — Amazon Prime Air. This service will deliver items weighing under five pounds via small drones.
Though still in the trial phases, this service may allow you to get your products within 30 minutes of placing your order. The potential behind this service is an excellent reason to invest in this company’s stock.
Amazon Go Lets You Grocery Shop Easily
Amazon Go is Amazon’s version of a supermarket. You walk in, shop for your groceries, and walk out. You never have to wait in line for a cashier. Instead, the store uses advanced technology that tracks what you’re putting into your cart. When you leave the store, you’ll receive a bill on your account.
This is just one example of the advanced technology this company has developed and implemented.
Some Food for Thought — What If You Had Invested Back in 1997?
Let’s pretend you were an optimistic investor back in 1997 and had high hopes for Amazon. If you had $100 to invest, you would’ve received five whole shares.
By the end of 1999, your 5 shares would’ve turned into 60 shares. And, by the beginning of 2020, those 60 shares would be worth a whopping $129,000. Not too shabby for an initial $100 investment.
Bottom Line
Overall, Amazon stock is worth purchasing because the company is showing no signs of slowing down. Even though it’s become the largest eCommerce website worldwide, it’s also aiming to create new technologies that change the future.
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