Amazon Q3 2026: Seller Services Up 9%, Ads Up 11%, Retail Up 2%
Amazon's latest results show where the money is coming from: seller fees and ads keep growing faster than Amazon's own retail sales. On October 29, 2026, Amazon reported third-quarter net sales of $201.9 billion, up 12%, with third-party seller services up 9% and advertising up 11%. Here is what the numbers say about the marketplace heading into Q4.
The headline numbers
According to Amazon's Q3 2026 earnings release (Oct 29, 2026):
- Net sales rose 12% to $201.9 billion from $180.2 billion (13% excluding currency effects).
- Operating income was $28.1 billion, up from $17.4 billion; Amazon called its 13.9% operating margin its highest ever.
- Net income was $20.7 billion, or $1.89 per diluted share, down from $21.2 billion, mainly because Q3 2025 included $9.5 billion of pre-tax gains on Anthropic investments.
- Segments: North America sales up 6% to $112.9 billion; International up 5% to $43.1 billion; AWS up 39% to $46.0 billion.
- Prime Day timing: Prime Day ran in Q2 for most large countries this year versus Q3 last year. Amazon says growth "would have been approximately 400 basis points higher" without that shift.
Seller fees and ads vs Amazon's own retail
The revenue breakdown in the release shows third-party seller services, which mainly reflect commissions plus fulfillment and shipping fees paid by sellers, at $46.5 billion, up 9%. Advertising services reached $19.6 billion, up 11%. Amazon's own online store sales grew just 2% to $68.5 billion.
| Revenue line | Q3 2026 actual | Analyst estimate | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Third-party seller services | $46.49B (+9.4%) | $44.83B | Beat |
| Advertising services | $19.64B (+10.9%) | $20.87B | Miss |
| Online stores | $68.47B (+1.6%) | $69.56B | Miss |
| Total revenue | $201.94B (+12.1%) | $202.11B | Slight miss |
Source: Zacks Equity Research via Yahoo Finance (Oct 29, 2026), comparing results with analyst averages.
Ad growth was the slowest in years: TheDesk (Oct 2026) notes that Amazon's ad revenue had regularly grown more than 20% in earlier quarters, and Amazon partly blamed the Prime Day timing. The company expects advertising growth to return to the "high teens" in Q4.
Q4 outlook and other highlights
- Q4 guidance: net sales of $240.0–247.0 billion (up 12–16%) and operating income of $28.5–33.5 billion.
- Delivery speed: Amazon reported its fastest Q3 speeds ever for Prime members, with more than 1.5 billion items arriving same-day or overnight in the quarter.
- Seller tools: the release highlights Seller Assistant workflows for restocking and pricing, and multichannel tools in Seller Central for managing listings, orders and profitability across channels.
- AI shopping: Amazon says Alexa for Shopping was used by more than 400 million customers in the last 12 months.
- Holiday staffing: plans to hire more than 300,000 seasonal and other US operations workers.
CEO Andy Jassy said "broader selection and speedier delivery are helping us capture more retail market segment share with improving margins."
What it means for sellers (our analysis)
Third-party sellers are a growth engine. Seller services grew more than four times faster than Amazon's own online store sales. The marketplace is where Amazon is adding selection, which also means more competition for every listing.
Ad costs may rise in Q4. If advertising growth returns to the high teens as Amazon expects, competition for clicks around Black Friday and Cyber Monday will be intense. Set budgets and bid caps per campaign and watch ACoS daily.
Speed sets expectations. With 1.5 billion same-day or overnight items in a quarter, shoppers expect fast delivery. FBA and well-placed inventory matter more than ever in Q4.
Use the new tools, carefully. Seller Assistant and multichannel tools can save time, but check automated pricing and restock decisions against your margins.
Q4 checklist
- Confirm FBA inventory for Black Friday week is received.
- Set Q4 ad budgets with daily caps and clear ACoS targets.
- Review fees on your top SKUs; seller fees are a growing share of Amazon's revenue.
- Check delivery speed badges on your listings and fix slow offers.
- Test Seller Assistant suggestions on a few SKUs before applying them widely.
How Atronia Innovations can help
We manage Amazon channels end to end, including Q4 ads, pricing and FBA planning, for brands and factories entering the US. Talk to our team about your holiday plan.
