There is this funny belief that there's some form of a Santa rally where shares will go up before Christmas. Shares have a habit of going up long-term, regardless of whether Santa does it or not.
However, Christmas may come early for some of these shares:
JB Hi-Fi Limited (ASX: JBH) and Harvey Norman Holdings Limited (ASX: HVN)
Amazon may have finally arrived, but it was sadly disappointing for several reasons.
Consumers may be missing out on truly low-cost products this Christmas but JB Hi-Fi and Harvey Norman will be thanking Santa for coming early this year.
Christmas is the most wonderful time and most profitable time of the year for retailers. If JB and Harvey Norman had to compete with the full Amazon package then shareholders may have gotten a piece of coal instead of a good profit update for Christmas.
Both businesses may surprise the market on the 'upside' when they report in a couple of months.
JB Hi-Fi is trading at 12x FY18's estimated earnings and Harvey Norman is trading at 12x FY18's estimated earnings.
Kogan.Com Ltd (ASX: KGN)
Kogan may be Australia's closest thing to Amazon but it's taken the interesting move of actually selling some of its items on the Amazon website.
Not only could Kogan benefit from Amazon's delayed 'full' launch and allow Kogan to grow its business, but Kogan could substantially grow its own sales by utilising Amazon's site and future popularity to grow its business. Piggybacking Amazon could be a really clever move.
Kogan is currently trading at around 110x FY17's earnings. If Kogan's profit soars over the next couple of years then the share price may not seem so expensive in the future.
Scentre Group's Westfield shopping centres have been bastions of shopping for many years, but internet shopping could be about to disrupt things in a big way. Shoppers can search every retail website from the comfort of their own home.
Amazon's delay may benefit Scentre Group from having to face up to this new reality, at least for another Christmas.
Scentre Group is trading at 17x FY18's estimated earnings with an unfranked distribution yield of 5.09%.
Foolish takeaway
Amazon is going to change the retail landscape beyond recognition over the coming years, it's just a question of when.
