TODAY'S CHARTS: High expectations for Amazon earnings

It’s Amazon’s (AMZN) turn to step up to the plate, reporting second quarter earnings today. Expectations are high.

The stock is up 28% over the past 6 months, with shares hitting a new all-time high today of $1,083.31.

So what can we expect from earnings? Here’s what we’ll be watching:

Maintaining revenue growth a must

Analysts expect sales of $37.2 billion, which translates to a growth rate of 22% from a year ago, similar to its first quarter results. Amazon’s growth peaked last year at 31%, but revenue is still growing quickly given its size.

According to analyst Michael Olson at Piper Jaffray, there’s a strong correlation between search interest for Amazon-related words and Amazon’s retail sales unit growth. Based on this, he predicts 24% year-over-year unit growth. He also sees a lot more upside in Amazon’s stock, with a price target of $1,200.

Cloud revenue (AWS) critical

Another key thing to watch will be revenue from AWS—Amazon’s cloud services—which pulled in over $13 billion in the past year. Analysts are expecting AWS revenue to reach $4 billion, slightly above the $3.6 billion in Q1.

Expenses hitting the bottom line

Will Amazon keep spending like Amazon? The company plows about 97 cents of every dollar earned back into its far-reaching endeavors—from grocery (including the $14 billion purchase of Whole Foods) to video, bookstores, speakers and AI … you name it. So far, Amazon’s ambitions have paid off, and investors have given them a long leash.

Analysts today are looking for earnings of 1.42 per share.

Stick with Yahoo Finance for more on Amazon. We’ll have the earnings report for you live today on the Final Round, starting at 3:55 p.m. ET.