Amazon’s acquisition strategy has become evident after its two latest deals, according to DA Davidson. The e-commerce giant announced last week it was acquiring Roomba-maker iRobot for $1.7 billion. The news followed last month’s $3.9 billion acquisition of primary health-provider One Medical . In both cases, Amazon is following its historical approach of “build first, buy second,” DA Davidson’s senior research analyst Tom Forte wrote in a note. In other words, Amazon is acquiring companies after it has already started building those businesses within the company. It’s the same approach Amazon used with Whole Foods, Zappos and MGM, Forte noted. The company, which had $60.71 billion in cash and investments on hand in the second quarter, is paying all cash for its latest acquisitions. “That suggests to us management believes its shares are undervalued, at current levels, which we find encouraging,” Forte said. The timing of the deals, less than three weeks apart, suggests CEO Andy Jassy may be more willing to engage in M & A than his predecessor, founder Jeff Bezos, he said. Indeed, he may have to do so given that Amazon needs a lot more revenue to move the needle that it did when the company was smaller, he added. Given the price tags of the recent deals, it appears Amazon is confident it can get acquisitions under $10 billion approved by the government, Forte said. With those parameters in mind, Forte came up with a couple names that could be considered acquisition targets. With Boxed , an e-commerce company that sells bulk consumables, Amazon could take another stab at bulk products, Forte said. The company, which has a market cap of $124 million, is down more than 86% year to date. It’s set to release earnings after the bell Tuesday. Amazon could also advance its first-party home-related efforts with Lovesac , Forte said. The furniture retailer is down almost 47% for the year and has a market cap of $528 million. It doesn’t report earnings until next month. Lastly, acquiring Sonos , which makes wireless home sound systems, could add to Amazon’s connected-home strategy. Down 26% this year, the company has a market cap of $2.8 billion. It will report earnings after the bell Wednesday. —CNBC’s Michael Bloom contributed reporting.
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