Looks like we’re in a “first” for all streaming platforms. A few days ago Netflix announced the collection of a film released in theaters for the first time (‘The Black Ball’, which it distributes in the United States) and now Prime Video talks about its financial forecast, a branch of Amazon’s business that is not specified separately. And there’s plenty of it: Disney on par, and Netflix in the same month, admitted that advertising yields less than promised.
have money Prime Video CEO Andy Jassy commented on the third-quarter results conference call with analysts that Prime Video already has “tens of billions of dollars in annualized revenue” and is itself profitable. Advances in good news (that Prime Video makes money) were previously announced to shareholders in May, but the scale of the figures has not been specified until now. By early 2024 (just a few weeks after ads hit Prime Video), he had a “growing conviction” that the service itself could be a profitable business.
how much does it cost While the forecasts are new, Amazon has yet to disclose how much Prime Video makes: According to its 2024 annual report, owned and licensed video content is monetized “as a unit” in each major market where Prime is sold. As the MGM purchase closes in March 2022 for $8.45 billion, the only details are expenses: $5.9 billion in video and music in the third quarter of 2026 and $18.8 billion between January and September, up 20% from the same period in 2025.
How much do you earn? Amazon’s results report what service charges are distributed among a wide range of items. Shares of Prime and third-party channels fall under “subscription services,” which also include audiobooks, music and e-books, and added 14,006 million between July and September. Ads go to “advertisements” (19,637 million), which are sponsored by stores. Movie rentals and purchases count as online store sales, and sales of third-party content count as “others.” It is impossible to detail the business results more precisely.
Let’s compare with competitors. Netflix brought in 12.9 billion in the third quarter with an operating margin of 34.6% and expects to close 2026 with 51.1 billion. Disney earned $712 million in the quarter ended June 27, a 12.9% jump from Disney+ and Hulu. But beware, Netflix pitched its plans with ads as a cheaper option (and profitable for them) and had to revise its expectations this quarter: It lowered its ad revenue forecast for 2026 to about 2,700 million from the previous 3,000, due to a slower than expected rollout of its ad tools.
Why is it going well? Jassi showed his catalog to the shareholders. The fourth season of ‘Reacher’ reached 66 million viewers in its first 28 days and confirmed the platform’s commitment to the general television audience. In theaters, ‘Project Salvation’ grossed $683.6 million worldwide. Thanks to that, Amazon MGM surpassed $1.2 billion at the global box office this year. And just around the corner, the fourth quarter of the year, the NBA (which already kicked off with an inaugural game that boasted 66% more viewers than the year before) and with it, a catapult for ad revenue, which Amazon expects to grow more than 15% year over year.
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