- Revenue in Amazon’s online ad business rose 19% to $13.92 billion.
- Amazon has emerged as a force in digital advertising, trailing only Meta and Google in the U.S.
Amazon reported a 19% increase in online ad revenue in the first quarter, beating analysts’ estimates.
Ad sales climbed to $13.92 billion, while analysts on average were expecting $13.74 billion, according to StreetAccount.
The numbers were contained in Amazon’s first-quarter earnings report. The company reported total first-quarter sales of $155.67 billion, compared to Wall Street projections of $155.04 billion.
Although Amazon’s online ad business represents a fraction of overall sales, it has emerged in recent years to become the third-biggest platform in the global digital advertising market, behind only Alphabet
and Meta.
Online advertising is a particular area of focus for investors due to economic uncertainty and increasing tensions between the U.S. and China over trade. While President Donald Trump’s China tariffs will likely affect Amazon’s core retail business, the company’s online ad unit could also feel some pain.
So far, tech companies with online ad businesses have reported solid first-quarter earnings, but warned of potentially tougher times later in the year.
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