Amazon Ad Revenue Rises 24% to $17.2 Billion in Q1

• Amazon reported total net sales of $181.5 billion and a profit of $30.3 billion, or $2.78 per share.

• Wall Street was expecting net sales of $177.16 billion on earnings of $1.65 per share, per analyst estimates compiled by Yahoo Finance.

• Shares of the tech giant fell 2% in after-hours trading following the results

Amazon smashed Wall Street expectations for its first quarter, with net sales growing 17% to $181.5 billion. The tech giant also posted a profit of $30.3 billion, or 2.78 per share, which included pre-tax gains of $16.8 billion related to investments in Anthropic.

Advertising services revenue, which includes sales to sellers, vendors, publishers, authors and others through programs such as sponsored ads, display and video advertising, grew 24% to $17.2 billion. On a trailing twelve-month basis, the company’s total ad revenue grew to over $70 billion.

Meanwhile, net sales in the subscription services segment, which includes annual and monthly fees associated with Amazon Prime memberships, as well as digital video, audiobook, digital music, e-book and other non-Amazon Web Services subscription services, grew 15% to $13.4 billion.

In November, the company revealed that Prime Video’s ad tier reaches over 315 million monthly active users globally, including more than 130 million in the United States alone. An update on the MAU figure will likely be disclosed during Amazon’s upfront presentation to advertisers next month.

Other countries where the ad tier is available include Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, The Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and the U.K. In addition to its ad-supported tier, Prime Video users can pay a fee of $4.99 per month to upgrade to an ad-free experience — an increase from its previous $2.99 per month fee.

Entertainment highlights for the quarter include the release of “Project Hail Mary,” which has generated nearly $615 million in global box office to date, including an $80 million+ opening weekend in the U.S. and Canada. Prime Video also averaged nearly 2.8 million U.S. viewers across six exclusive broadcasts for the NBA SoFi Play-In Tournament, up 18% compared to last year on cable.

It also launched Creative Agent, an agentic AI solution for advertisers in Canada, France, Germany, India, Italy, Spain, and the UK, which helps research, brainstorm and generate ad campaigns using conversational guidance and Amazon’s retail data.

For the second quarter, Amazon is forecasting net sales between $194 billion and $199 billion, representing growth between 16% and 19% over the prior year, and operating income between $20 billion and $24 billion, compared to $19.2 billion a year ago. The projections include an “unfavorable impact” from foreign exchange rates and the assumption that Prime Day occurs during the quarter.

It also previously forecasted that it would spend $200 billion in capital expenditures for 2026, touting “strong” demand for its existing offerings and “seminal opportunities” with AI, chips, robotics and low Earth orbit satellites.

Amazon shares fell 2% in after-hours trading on Wednesday following the release of the results.

More to come…

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