Amazon operating income growth outpaces sales in Q2 2024 (2024)

Amazon.com Inc. marked growth nearly across the board, increasing net sales 10% in its fiscal Q2 while nearly doubling both operating income and net income.

In North America, Amazon sales in Q2 2024 were nearly triple the online marketplace’s international sales. Its fiscal second quarter ended June 30, 2024.

Amazon is No. 1 in the Top 1000 Database, Digital Commerce 360’s ranking of the largest online retailers in North America by annual web sales. Amazon is also No. 3 in Digital Commerce 360’s Global Online Marketplaces Database, which ranks the 100 largest global marketplaces by 2023 third-party gross merchandise value (GMV).

Although it did not specify how much it brought in during its 10th annual Prime Day sale, Amazon said the shopping event was its biggest yet. Additionally, Amazon said it “delivered to Prime members at its fastest speeds ever in the first half of the year.”

How much did Amazon make in sales during Q2 2024?

In Q2 2024, Amazon net sales increased to $148.0 billion globally. That’s up 10% from $134.4 billion in the previous year’s second quarter. Meanwhile, its operating income increased to $14.7 billion in Q2 204, from $7.7 billion in the prior year’s second quarter.

Overall unit sales grew 11% year over year, chief financial officer Brian Olsavsky said on Amazon’s Q2 earnings call with investors, without specifying the number of units sold.

Also in Q2 2024, Amazon sales in North America reached $90.0 billion — a 9% year-over-year increase. At the same time, Amazon’s international sales increased 7% year over year to $31.7 billion. CEO Andy Jassy told investors Amazon has noticed lower average selling prices on its marketplace as “customers continue to trade down on price when they can.”

“More discretionary higher ticket items, like computers or electronics or TVs, are growing faster for us than what we see elsewhere in the industry, but more slowly than we see in a more robust economy,” Jassy said on the earnings call.

Sales from Amazon Web Services grew at a faster rate than marketplace sales, up 29% year over year to reach $26.3 billion. Amazon has added more than $2 billion in advertising revenue year over year. It has also generated more than $50 billion in revenue in the past 12 months, he added.

“Sponsored ads drive the majority of our advertising revenue today and we see further opportunity there,” Jassy said. “Even with this growth, it’s important to realize we’re at the very beginning of what’s possible in our video advertising.”

Amazon Prime Day’s effect on online retail

Although Amazon itself hasn’t specified how much it made in Prime Day 2024 sales, a large part of its fiscal Q2 in 2024, its event led to online retail discounting across the industry — nationwide and around the globe.

Over the course of the two-day event, shoppers in the United States spent $14.2 billion online — aside from what they spent on Amazon — according to data from Adobe Analytics. That was almost evenly split between the two days, with the first day of the Amazon Prime sale drawing $7.2 billion in online spending outside of the marketplace.

Amazon fees, fulfillment and holiday preparation

Jassy said lowering fees for apparel sellers “has spurred substantial year-over-year unit growth in apparel.”

“And the incentive we’ve given sellers to send their items to multiple Amazon inbound facilities so they can save money where they save us effort and money is getting more traction than we even hoped,” Jassy added. “These collective developments will benefit customers in the form of better selection, lower prices, and faster delivery speed.”

Moreover, Amazon can “further reduce costs,” he said, by expanding its use of automation and robotics. It can also do so by building out its same-day facility network and “regionalizing” its inbound network.

Olsavsky said placing inventory more regionally and closer to where customers are has helped to consolidate shipments. As a result, Amazon shipped more units per box in Q2, he said, not quantifying how many. Amazon packages also traveled shorter distances to customers in Q2, leading to “better on-road productivity” in its transportation network.

“With more optimal inbound inventory placement, we expect to enable faster speeds, consolidate more orders in one box, and reduce inventory transfers once items reach a fulfillment center,” Jassy said.

But these cost improvements “won’t happen in one quarter or one fell swoop,” he clarified.

Olsavsky said Amazon’s fiscal Q3 is also when it begins to “ramp up” capacity to handle Q4 holiday volumes in its fulfillment network.

Amazon continues to integrate AI into its different businesses

On the consumer end, Jassy pointed to Amazon’s shopping assistant, Rufus, helping consumers make shopping decisions. Amazon also has AI technology that lets consumers simulate trying apparel items.

For Amazon sellers, the marketplace’s generative AI listing tool enables them to create new product listings faster than before.

When it comes to fulfillment centers, Amazon’s North America unit has rolled out “Project Private Investigator,” which Jassy described as using “a combination of generative AI and to uncover defects before products reach customers.”

Percentage changes may not align exactly with dollar figures due to rounding.Check back formore earnings reports. Here’slast quarter’s Amazon earnings article.

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