Multiple analysts raised their price targets for Amazon shares due to growing optimism over the internet giant's retail and cloud computing prowess.
D.A. Davidson reiterated its buy rating and increased its price target for Amazon shares to $1,500 from $1,300, representing 29 percent upside to Wednesday's close. It is the highest target out of the 41 analysts who cover Amazon, according to FactSet.
"We are focusing on the company's physical store efforts as we believe its increased physical footprint (including 465 Whole Foods locations, around 10 book stores, and its strategic partnership with Kohl's) is THE story of its 2017 holiday sales and an indication of things to come in the future as Amazon increasingly leverages physical stores to increase its revenue growth and wallet share," analyst Tom Forte wrote in a note to clients Wednesday.
MKM Partners analyst Rob Sanderson reaffirmed his buy rating and raised his price target for Amazon shares to $1,350 from $1,275.
"We continue to think Amazon is the best long-term growth story available to large-cap investors today," he wrote in a note Thursday.
Amazon shares are up 5 percent this month on growing optimism over its e-commerce retail sales and its annual cloud computing AWS re:Invent conference held in Las Vegas this week.
Sanderson predicts Amazon's subscription, third-party seller services and cloud computing businesses will grow sales more than 30 percent annually during the next two years.
JPMorgan also reiterated its overweight rating Wednesday for Amazon shares due to its Amazon Web Services cloud computing segment.
"We believe a key competitive advantage is AWS' seven-year head start, and accelerated feature launches as highlighted today make it tough for the competition to catch up," analyst Doug Anmuth wrote in a note to clients.
Amazon shares have rallied 55 percent this year through Wednesday, compared with the market's 17 percent gain.
The company's stock was up 0.7 percent in early trading Thursday.
— CNBC's Michael Bloom contributed to this story.