Jeff Bezos Once Watched Amazon's Stock Collapse From $113 To $6, But Held On To The Belief That 'The Stock Is Not The Company' — Here's How He Weathered That Storm
During the dot-com bust, Amazon's stock plummeted from $113 to $6, but Jeff Bezos remained focused on the company's improving fundamentals. He emphasized that 'the stock is not the company,' highlighting that internal metrics were strong despite market pressures. Today, Amazon has a market cap of $2.243 trillion, with a 74.50% increase in share price over the past five years. Analysts have set an average price target of $248, indicating a potential upside of 18.05%.
At the height of the dot-com bust, Amazon.com, Inc.’s AMZN stock cratered by about 94%. However, for Jeff Bezos, the collapse was just noise, because the company's fundamentals were improving.
What Happened: In a 2018 episode of "The David Rubenstein Show: Peer-to-Peer Conversations," Bezos recalled the harrowing days of the early 2000s, when Amazon's stock nosedived from $113 to just $6 during the dot-com bubble burst.
"At the peak of the internet bubble, our stock peaked somewhere around $113, and then after the internet bubble busted open, our stock went down to $6," Bezos said. "It went from $113 to $6 in less than a year. My annual shareholder letter that year starts with a one-word sentence and that one-word sentence is the word ‘Ouch.'"
However, the billionaire said that the stock price didn't reflect the reality of Amazon's business. "The stock is not the company, and the company is not the stock," he said. "All of our internal business metrics — number of customers, profit per unit, everything you can imagine — were getting better and fast."
Despite pressure from Wall Street to prioritize short-term profits, Bezos stuck to his long-term vision. "We didn't need to go back to the capital markets," he said. "We already had the money we needed."
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Why It's Important: Amazon currently has a market capitalization of $2.243 trillion, making it the fourth most valuable company in the world.
Over the past five years, Amazon's share price has surged 74.50%. In the last 12 months, it has gained 12.39%, though year-to-date, the stock is down 4.53%, according to Benzinga Pro data.
Amazon currently holds an average price target of $248, based on insights from 41 analysts. The highest estimate, $305, was provided by Tigress Financial on May 6, 2025.
The three latest analyst updates came from Tigress Financial, Baird and Oppenheimer with an average target of $246.67, suggesting a potential upside of 18.05%.
Benzinga Edge Stock Rankings gives Amazon a strong growth score of 91.45%. Click here to see how it compares to other leading companies.
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