By Sebastian Herrera

Amazon.com's shares rose about 3% Monday, outperforming the Nasdaq Composite index and reversing a rout late last week as investors feared consumers would reduce online spending.

New estimates about the company's exposure to a global tariff war appear to show it could face less of a hit than some big tech peers. Investment bank Oppenheimer & Co estimated Amazon's revenue could decline by about 8% due to tariffs, as opposed to 16% for Meta Platforms and 15% for Google.

American shopping habits have increasingly tilted toward online shopping, and e-commerce has grown more entrenched. Since 2020, Amazon's profits have surged as more shoppers turned its way for daily essentials given its speedier delivery options. Its hundreds of warehouses are also well-stocked with inventory, and Amazon makes billions of dollars from fees and services.

While the retail giant may see some advertising revenue dwindle, most of its ad dollars come from the sellers that use its website to list their products. Those sellers may be less willing to pull their ads if it means getting less selling visibility, some analysts say. In that way, Amazon's ad dollars may be more recession-resistant than Google or Meta.

Still, Amazon carries risk as tariffs loom. More than half of Amazon's sales come from its third-party sellers, many who source their products from China. Depending on how bad the economy gets, shoppers may opt to pull back on their online purchases and visit stores more. Amazon has also counted on millions of consumers to keep renewing their Prime memberships. In a recession, people may opt for fewer subscriptions.

This item is part of a Wall Street Journal live coverage event. The full stream can be found by searching P/WSJL (WSJ Live Coverage).

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 07, 2025 14:18 ET (18:18 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2025 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.