Is Amazon.com, Inc the Next Big Marijuana Stock?

AMZN Stock Could Be the Next Big Pot Stock

Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) is pretty much known as the company that deals in everything. From diapers, to tech gadgets, to workout gear, to groceries, there’s little that Amazon stock doesn’t have a connection to.

So it stands to reason that, should marijuana become federally legal in the U.S. (or, rather, when it becomes legal), Amazon.com, Inc. will look to get in on the hundreds of millions of dollars in e-commerce opportunities.

So the question is, could AMZN stock be a good way to get involved in the growing marijuana market?

Well, yes and no.

Online purchasing and delivery of marijuana will be big business in the U.S. when the drug is eventually legalized at the federal level.

While there’s some apprehension of sorts about buying marijuana online in Canada, that trend is likely to change as people get more comfortable with legal marijuana. And as that space grows, more and more people will turn to marijuana delivery services, opening a huge opportunity for e-commerce fulfillment providers.

Since there’s no company more involved in e-commerce than Amazon.com, Inc., there’s a very good chance the company will start delivering cannabis the second it’s legally able to.

The question, of course, lies in what the legislation will look like when it eventually gets passed. Will marijuana deliveries be handled solely by the state or certain specialized providers? I doubt it, but it’s possible.

Barring that, we’re likely to see Amazon get involved in the marijuana delivery business.

Would that be a huge boon to Amazon stock? Not really. Amazon.com, Inc. has a valuation of more than $1.0 trillion, so the possible billions of dollars from marijuana sales wouldn’t push the needle too much, but it should still help push AMZN stock higher.

So yes, there’s an opportunity for Amazon stock to benefit from U.S. marijuana legalization, but how much remains to be seen.

That said, there’s the potential for Amazon.com, Inc. to dominate the marijuana delivery sector. If the company ends up becoming a major player in that space, we’ll see at least a moderate boost to the price of AMZN stock.

But why am I bringing up Amazon and marijuana stocks anyway? What’s the connection?

Well, dear reader, Amazon.com, Inc. recently released a statement endorsing pot legalization in the U.S.

“And because we know that the issue is bigger than Amazon, our public policy team will be actively supporting The Marijuana Opportunity and Reinvestment and Expungement Act of 2021 (MORE Act) — federal legislation that would legalize marijuana at the federal level, expunge criminal records and invest in impacted communities,” wrote Dave Clark, Amazon’s chief executive of Worldwide Consumer. (Source: “Cannabis Stocks Rally After Amazon Endorses Legalization,” MarketWatch, June 2, 2021.)

Amazon.com, Inc. is a massive company that only makes moves it believes will benefit Amazon stockholders. So it wouldn’t make sense for the company to randomly come out in favor of marijuana legalization unless it somehow thought it would benefit the company long-term.

While I may be indulging in a bit of prognostication, it’s fair to say that Amazon coming out in favor of marijuana legalization can only be a good sign for marijuana stocks, even if the company has no plans to profit from the pot market (again, something I find highly unlikely).

If it’s safe to assume that Amazon.com, Inc. made its statement for a reason, it follows that Amazon has a vested financial incentive to see pot legalized in the U.S.

That’s a very big deal.

There are few companies—if any—that carry the political clout that Amazon does. Just look at how hard politicians across the country have lobbied for the mega-company to put its headquarters in their cities, offering huge tax incentives to an obscenely wealthy business.

Furthermore, Amazon.com, Inc.’s CEO, Jeff Bezos, is among the richest individuals on Earth, and being that fabulously wealthy affords him a high degree of influence. Just look at the latest massive deal his pet-project space company recently scored with the U.S. government.

I’m not saying this is all due to political influence, but it’s safe to say that Bezos has at least some degree of sway with politicians.

Finally, it’s worth noting that Bezos owns The Washington Post. While he claims to be editorially neutral as an owner, it’s not hard to envision a world where politicians don’t want to get on the guy’s bad side.

If Bezos and Amazon.com, Inc. continue to express support for U.S. marijuana legalization, it may not be enough to break the dinosaur-like political holdouts, but it will certainly add weight to the push for legalization.

Analyst Take

No matter which way you look at this story, it can only be good news for the marijuana industry and, by extension, marijuana stock investors.

While we can’t tell from a single statement just how involved Amazon.com, Inc. will get in the fight for marijuana legalization, the fact that the company has voiced its support for legalization is a great sign.

If you’re looking at Amazon stock as the next big marijuana stock, while I wouldn’t necessarily deter you from that line of thinking (AMZN stock may indeed stand to benefit from legalization), it’s worth noting that the pot delivery business would hardly make or break Amazon. Instead, it would simply supplement an already dominant company.