NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / March 30, 2017 / The social media power and e-commerce presence of their respective industries has Facebook and Amazon at the head of the class. As both companies have shown, there are hidden forces at work in India that are bringing competitive opposition on their toes. Amazon continues with its local store strategy, while Facebook looks to minimize the impact of a potential social media threat.

RDI Initiates Coverage:

Amazon.com, Inc. https://ub.rdinvesting.com/news/?ticker=AMZN

Facebook Inc. https://ub.rdinvesting.com/news/?ticker=FB

Amazon.com advanced 2.14% to close at a record high $874.32 on Wednesday. The stock traded in a wide range on the day, between $876.44 and $859.02 on volume of 4.49 million shares traded. Amazon has been credited with its market dominance as an e-commerce behemoth as the basis for its record price surge. After the close of the markets, the company announced a second Houston area Fulfillment Center that is expected to create 1,000 full time jobs.

The company announced that it is going to eliminate its unprofitable Quidsi unit seven years after the company decided to acquire it in 2011 for nearly $500 million. The company, whose primary product was shipping diapers for free, was believed to give Amazon.com an opportunity to increase their online presence in the household goods e-commerce niche. An Amazon spokesperson said, "We have worked extremely hard for the past seven years to get Quidsi to be profitable, and unfortunately we have not been able to do so." Some current employees will retain their jobs, such as its software development team who will be moved to AmazonFresh, but 263 employees will be laid off.

Access RDI's Amazon.com Research Report at: https://ub.rdinvesting.com/news/?ticker=AMZN

Facebook advanced 0.63% to close at $142.65 on Wednesday. The stock traded in a narrow range between $142.86 and $141.83 on volume of 16.53 million shares traded. One of the top reasons for the small bump in stock price is the company's continued digital assault on competitor Snap, whose application, Snapchat has been increasingly popular. Facebook owns Instagram, and whether as a competitor in advertising or in friend connections, Facebook obviously believed that reducing the competition before too many users strayed from Facebook was the right strategy. On March 22nd, FB's Instagram has crossed mark of 1 million active advertisers targeting it's 600 million plus monthly active users.

In advertising related news, Congress has sent President Donald Trump legislation that would roll back consumer privacy protections and will allow internet providers to sell browsing habits of their users to advertisers. Under former President Obama, broadband companies were required to get a customer's permission to market their app and web-browsing history to third parties. This means that broadband companies will be able to sell the data to the highest bidder ? or 1,000 interested parties. One effect of this bill is that Facebook marketing data will likely be diluted. Right now, internet companies like Google and Facebook don't have to ask user's permission before tracking what sites they visit, but with this bill, broadband providers like AT&T, Comcast and Verizon will also be able to do the same.

Access RDI's Facebook Research Report at: https://ub.rdinvesting.com/news/?ticker=FB

Our Actionable Research on Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) and Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ: FB) can be downloaded free of charge at Research Driven Investing.

Research Driven Investing

We are committed to providing relevant and actionable information for the self-directed investor. Our research is reputed for being a leader in trusted, in-depth analysis vital for informed strategic trading decisions. The nimble investor can leverage our analysis and collective expertise to execute a disciplined approach to stock selection.

RDInvesting has not been compensated; directly or indirectly; for producing or publishing this document.

Disclaimer: This article is written by an independent contributor of RDInvesting.com and reviewed by Nadia Noorani, CFA® charter holder. RDInvesting.com is neither a registered broker dealer nor a registered investment advisor. For more information please read our full disclaimer at www.rdinvesting.com/disclaimer.

CONTACT

For any questions, inquiries, or comments reach out to us directly at:

Address:

Research Driven Investing, Unit #901 511 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY, 10011

Email:

contact@rdinvesting.com

CFA® and Chartered Financial Analyst® are registered trademarks owned by CFA Institute.

SOURCE: RDInvesting.com