Retail-to-cloud giant Amazon announced its September quarter (Q3 2022) earnings on Thursday, sending its stock down 20 per cent on account of missed estimates. While the Seattle-based company reported a slowdown in its e-commerce and cloud computing divisions, its Prime offering managed to score some hits between July and September.
Amazon revealed in its earnings call that it premiered several new entertainment series during the quarter, including The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, which attracted more than 25 million global viewers on the first day. It is “the biggest debut in Prime Video history, and closing in on 100 million viewers to date,” the companies stated.
Amazon Prime Video also premiered three new Original and three returning series, including Heidi Klum and Tim Gunn’s Making the Cut; The Outlaws, and thriller The Peripheral. Prime Video also kicked off its inaugural season as the “exclusive home of NFL Thursday Night Football with more than 15 million viewers” for the first game. “Live sports also returned to Prime Video across Europe with new seasons of UEFA Champions League soccer in Germany and Italy, Ligue 1 soccer in France, and exclusive coverage of US Open tennis in the UK,” Amazon stated.
Prime’s other wins in Q3
Beyond entertainment, Amazon Prime also clocked its biggest sale day in July in terms of the number of purchases. Prime members from across the world bought more than 300 million items on the day. Even though the company did not share revenue figures, Bank of America analysts suggest that Amazon may have raked in $7.5 billion on the day. That number, however, dropped to $5.7 billion in its October's Prime Early Access Sale, which saw the purchase of 100 million items across 15 countries.
Amazon reckons e-commerce sales will slow down further during the upcoming holiday season in the US, as volatile macroeconomic conditions continue to pinch consumer wallets.
“In the past four months, employees across our consumer businesses have worked relentlessly to put together compelling Prime Member Deal Events with our eighth annual Prime Day and the brand new Prime Early Access Sale in early October. The customer response to both events was quite positive, and it’s clear that particularly during these uncertain economic times, customers appreciate Amazon’s continued focus on value and convenience,” Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said in the earnings call.
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