Bullish Options Trading Activity in Amazon.com (AMZN) Amid Reports of Incoming EU Tax Bill and Regulatory Reform -Susquehanna

EU to tell Amazon to pay Luxembourg back taxes: source

October 3, 2017 1:17 PM EDT

By Foo Yun Chee

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - EU regulators are expected to order Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) on Wednesday to pay Luxebourg millions of euros in back taxes, a person familiar with the matter said, the latest global company to be hit by an EU crackdown on unfair tax deals.

The European Commission ruling wraps up a three-year long investigation into whether Amazon received an unfair advantage based on a 2003 Luxembourg tax ruling which allows an Amazon subsidiary to pay less tax there than other companies.

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Amazon.com (AMZN) said to face EU tax bill as soon as Wednesday - Bloomberg

October 3, 2017 10:14 AM EDT

Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) said to face EU tax bill as soon as Wednesday - Bloomberg

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EU to reform sales tax, prepares changes to rates

October 3, 2017 9:40 AM EDT

By Francesco Guarascio

STRASBOURG (Reuters) - The European Commission will propose on Wednesday changes to the way sales taxes are levied in the European Union, in an effort to close tax loopholes and eliminate fraud, a draft document said.

The new measures on value-added tax would mostly tackle frauds in which companies pocket VAT revenues from cross-border sales instead of paying them to the local government.

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Amazon looking at French distribution deals: report

October 3, 2017 7:52 AM EDT

PARIS (Reuters) - Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) has approached various French supermarket operators - including Casino - about setting up distribution deals or making an acquisition in the country, newspaper Le Monde reported, citing its own sources.

Le Monde said Amazon had... More

Amazon (AMZN) Said to Eye Buying Distributor in France - Bloomberg, Citing Le Monde

October 3, 2017 6:25 AM EDT

Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) Said to Eye Buying Distributor in France - Bloomberg, Citing Le Monde

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Whole Foods price cuts hit hardest at Trader Joe's, Sprouts: study

October 3, 2017 5:06 AM EDT

By Lisa Baertlein

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Trader Joe's and Sprouts Farmers Market Inc have been hit hardest by customer defections since Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ: AMZN) cut prices at Whole Foods, a data analytics firm said on Tuesday.

Amazon slashed prices on select items at Whole Foods on Aug. 28, the day the world's largest online retailer closed its $13.7 billion purchase of the premium grocer, a move widely expected to upend the food retail business.

On that day, Whole Foods' customer traffic spiked 31 percent from a year earlier,... More

Nearly two million people watched NFL livestream on Amazon.com

September 29, 2017 7:02 PM EDT

(Reuters) - Nearly 2 million people logged onto Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) for the online retailer's first livestream of Thursday Night Football, the U.S. National Football League said on Friday.

Some 1.9 million people tuned in to Amazon's kickoff show and game between... More

Loop Capital Reiterates Buy Rating & $1200 PT on Amazon.com (AMZN); 'Dramatically Ramping Up Production of Prime Video Content for 2018... Will Drive Prime Membership Enrollment'

September 29, 2017 12:11 PM EDT

Loop Capital reiterates Buy rating and $1,2000 price target on Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN), following recent media reports the company is increasing efforts to bolster Prime Video content for 2018.

Analyst Anthony Chukumba notes the company is "dramatically ramping up production" to improve its Prime Video... More

When it comes to U.S. stocks, growth trumps quality

September 29, 2017 11:35 AM EDT

By Trevor Hunnicutt

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. investors are not rewarding companies for generating good earnings consistently, opting instead for a stockpicking strategy that might be called "growth at a high cost."

High-quality stocks selected for their strong balance sheets and stable earnings have appreciated just 12 percent this year, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE: GS), while the broader S&P 500 benchmark index has returned 13.8 percent.

But investors cannot seem to stop throwing money at companies improving their sales fastest: a group of such equities tracked by Goldman Sachs... More

Lagging U.S. online giants, Europe calls on them to pay up

September 29, 2017 11:30 AM EDT

By Julia Fioretti and Philip Blenkinsop

TALLINN (Reuters) - French, Italian and other European leaders upped the pressure on mostly U.S. tech giants to pay their fair share of taxes in the European Union and abide by the bloc's rules when they met on Friday, but were still far from a consensus on the issue.

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said the EU executive would propose new rules next year to provide a level playing-field between bricks-and-mortar companies and digital ones.

But European countries are split over whether online companies such as Google (NASDAQ:... More