Amazon raked in $11.82 billion in advertising revenue for the first quarter of 2024, topping analyst expectations, fueled by the ecommerce giant’s move to serve ads by default in Prime Video in multiple markets.
Advertising sales for the quarter were up 24% year over year and marked a new Q1 record.
The ad revenue beat Wall Street expectations for the quarter of $11.7 billion, according to StreetAccount.
“Our advertising efforts continue to benefit from the growth of our Stores and Prime Video businesses,” CEO Andy Jassy said in announcing earnings.
In February, a lawsuit filed against Amazon on behalf of Prime Video users accused the company of false advertising and deceptive practices over the change by Prime Video to serve ads unless customers pay $2.99/month more.
Amazon, in its earnings announcement, said Amazon MGM Studios released 20 films and series in the first quarter.
Amazon posted revenue of $143.3 billion, up 13% and an all-time high in Q1, and net income of $10.4 billion, or 98 cents per share.
The segment includes annual and monthly fees associated with Amazon Prime memberships, as well as digital video, audiobook, digital music, e-book and other non-AWS subscription services.
Amazon’s decision to serve ads by default in Prime Video across a number of markets helped the e-commerce behemoth earn $11.82 billion in advertising revenue for the first quarter of 2024, exceeding analyst expectations.
Sales of advertising for the quarter set a new Q1 record, increasing by 24% year over year. StreetAccount reports that the ad revenue for the quarter exceeded Wall Street’s projections of $11.7 billion.
“The expansion of our Stores and Prime Video businesses continues to support our advertising efforts,” CEO Andy Jassy stated during the company’s earnings announcement. “We’re encouraged by the response, but it’s very early for streaming TV ads,” he said to investors during the earnings call. “.
This month, Jassy revealed that Prime Video now boasts over 200 million monthly users and highlighted the service’s introduction of advertising, which will begin in January, in his annual letter to Amazon shareholders. 29. In the United States. S. only, the business has informed marketers that Prime Video has an approximate monthly viewership of 115 million in the U.S. S. Thus far, Prime Video advertisements have been released in the US, the U. KK. Germany, Austria, Mexico, Canada, France, Italy, and Spain.
In the correspondence, Jassy stated, “Streaming TV advertising is growing quickly and off to a strong start.”. The NFL’s “Thursday Night Football” games, the “Lord of the Rings” series, “Reacher,” “The Boys,” “Citadel,” and “Road House” were among the exclusive content that he praised as well as Prime Video’s “continued development of compelling, exclusive content.”. Amazon declared in the most recent quarter that it will stream its first NFL Wild Card playoff game in January 2025 on Prime Video.
A lawsuit was filed against Amazon in February on behalf of Prime Video subscribers, alleging that the company engaged in deceptive practices and false advertising when it changed to only serve ads to users who paid an additional $2,099 per month. Amazon has refrained from providing a statement regarding the lawsuit. ).
Twenty movies and television shows from Amazon MGM Studios were released in the first quarter, the company said in its earnings report. Among these was the first season of the post-apocalyptic video game adaptation “Fallout,” which in its first 16 days of release garnered over 65 million viewers globally, making it the second most watched title on Prime Video ever. The company also bragged about the success of Jake Gyllenhaal’s “Road House,” which became the biggest debut ever for an Amazon MGM Studios film with over 50 million viewers worldwide in its first two weekends of streaming on Prime Video; “Hazbin Hotel,” which had the highest number of viewers worldwide in its first weekend of debut for a new animated series on Prime Video; and “The Beekeeper,” which placed in the top ten theatrical releases by revenue worldwide in the first quarter.
Furthermore, the business criticized its agreement for the reality-competition series “Beast Games” with mega-influencer MrBeast, also known as Jimmy Donaldson, the most subscribed YouTube creator. A $5 million prize, thought to be the largest single cash prize in TV or streaming history, will be up for grabs for 1,000 contestants on the show.
The business outperformed analysts’ quarterly estimates overall. In the first quarter of 2022, Amazon recorded revenue of $143.33 billion, a 13 percent increase and record high, and net income of $10.04 billion, or 98 cents per share. According to financial data provider LSEG, Wall Street analysts on average predicted the company to report revenue of $142.5 billion and earnings per share of 83 cents.
Amazon Q, which it bills as “the most capable generative AI-powered assistant for accelerating software development and leveraging companies’ internal data,” went generally available earlier on Tuesday. “.
Shown above is “Fallout” on Prime Video.
