Amazon (AMZN -0.70%) reports second-quarter results on Thursday, July 30. It heads into that report in a strange position. The market keeps selling the stock, and Wall Street keeps insisting it’s worth far more.

Shares fell about 4.6% on Thursday to $233.66, even though Amazon itself reported nothing. The stock now sits about 16% below its 52-week high of $278.56.

Yet the average analyst price target is about $313 as of this writing (roughly 34% above the current price), and the consensus rating among analysts is a strong buy.

A gap that wide, four days before earnings, is worth understanding. Does it mean the stock is a bargain going into the report?

Image source: Amazon.

Why the stock keeps sliding

The selling isn’t about weak…