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Amazon Prime Day led to $6.4 billion in sales, not profit, in a single day | Fact check


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The claim: Amazon made $6.4 billion in profit on July 11

A July 14 Facebook post (direct link, archive link) claims one of the world’s biggest companies made billions of dollars in a single day.

“On Tuesday alone, Amazon raked in more than $6.4 BILLION in profits,” reads the post. 

It was shared more than 10,000 times in four days. Other versions of the claim were shared thousands of additional times.

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Our rating: False

Various outlets reported the company made $6.4 billion in sales, not profit, on the first day of Amazon Prime Day on July 11. Though the company’s net profit figures are not yet publicly available for that time period, its quarterly results over time show profit is a small fraction of total sales.

Amazon can make billions in profit in a quarter, but not a single day

Amazon Prime Day is an annual two-day event that offers deals to members. 

Consumers spent $6.4 billion on the first day of the event on July 11, according to data from Adobe Analytics reported by outlets including Paste BN and Reuters. Amazon referred Paste BN to its news release that announced July 11 was the single largest sales day in company history. It did not specify how much money Amazon made in sales or profits that day.

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Publicly-available data shows Amazon’s net profits are significantly smaller than its net sales, meaning profits couldn't be close to the amount claimed in the social media posts. Recent results show profit is equal to about 2% to 3% of total sales for Amazon.

The company’s most recent profits were announced in April. Amazon reported net sales of $127.4 billion in the first quarter of 2023, with a net profit of $3.2 billion.

Amazon Prime Day falls in the third quarter, which spans from July 1 to Sept. 30. The company reported a profit of $2.9 billion in the third quarter of 2022 on sales of $127.1 billion.

Paste BN reached out to several users who shared the post for comment but did not immediately receive a response.

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