seller
- What changed
- Amazon Q3 ad revenue up 11% to $19.6B, seller services up 9% to $46.5B
- When
- Reported October 29, 2026 (quarter ended Sep 30)
- Who it affects
- Amazon sellers, vendors and advertisers
- What to do
- Plan Q4 bids and budgets for high teens ad growth
Key takeaways
- Amazon Q3 2026 ad revenue rose 11% to $19.6 billion, down from 26% growth in Q2, as Prime Day moved to June.
- Third party seller services grew 9% to $46.5 billion; online stores grew 2%.
- Amazon guided Q4 ad growth to the high teens, so expect pricier holiday clicks.
Amazon Q3 2026 in four numbers
What Amazon reported for Q3 2026
Amazon said net sales increased 12% to $201.9 billion, up from $180.2 billion in Q3 2025. Operating income rose to $28.1 billion from $17.4 billion, a 13.9% operating margin, and diluted earnings per share were $1.89 against $1.95 a year earlier. Net income fell 2% to $20.7 billion, which Amazon put down mainly to $9.5 billion of pre tax gains on its Anthropic investment in the year ago quarter.
North America sales grew 6% to $112.9 billion and International grew 5% to $43.1 billion (8% excluding currency). AWS was the standout, up 39% to $46.0 billion.
Ad revenue growth slowed to 11% after Prime Day moved to June
Advertising services revenue was $19,637 million, up 11% as reported and 12% excluding currency, from $17,703 million a year earlier. That is the slowest growth in years: PPC Land notes ad growth had been 22% or higher for several quarters and hit 26% in Q2 2026. Q3 ad revenue was also slightly below Q2's $19.81 billion.
Amazon blamed timing anomalies primarily related to Prime Day. In 2025 Prime Day fell fully in Q3; in 2026 it ran in Q2 for most large countries, with the US event in June. Amazon said Q3 net sales growth would have been about 400 basis points higher without the shift, but gave no equivalent figure for ads. Combined, Q2 and Q3 2026 ad revenue was $39.45 billion, up about 18% on the same period of 2025 by PPC Land's calculation, so underlying demand for Amazon ads has not collapsed.
Amazon Q3 2026 growth by revenue line
Third party seller services grew 9% to $46.5 billion
Third party seller services, which includes referral fees, FBA fees and other seller charges, rose 9% to $46,492 million (10% excluding currency) from $42,486 million. Online stores, mostly Amazon's own first party retail, grew just 2% to $68.5 billion. Seller fees and ads together brought in about $66.1 billion in the quarter, close to the $68.5 billion Amazon made from its own online store sales.
Seller tools and delivery highlights from the release
The release lists several updates that touch sellers directly.
- Seller Assistant workflows that handle routine work such as restocking and pricing around the clock
- A plugin connecting Seller Assistant to Amazon Quick and Anthropic's Claude
- Tools to manage listings, orders and profitability across multiple channels from Seller Central
- Fastest Q3 Prime delivery speeds ever, with more than 1.5 billion items arriving same day or overnight
- Amazon Now available in over 450 towns and cities, with items ordered up 10x year over year
Amazon's Q4 2026 guidance
Amazon guided Q4 net sales of $240.0 to $247.0 billion, growth of 12% to 16%, and operating income of $28.5 to $33.5 billion against $25.0 billion in Q4 2025. It said it expects advertising revenue to grow in the high teens year over year in Q4. Applied to Q4 2025 ad revenue of $21,317 million, that implies roughly $24.9 to $25.4 billion, PPC Land calculated, though Amazon gave no dollar figure.
What sellers should do
High teens ad growth in Q4 means more advertiser money chasing the same holiday shoppers. Expect higher cost per click from Black Friday through Cyber Monday and into December. Use these steps now.
- Set Q4 target ACoS from product margin after fees, not from last year's ACoS
- Raise budgets on proven exact match keywords first, and cap broad and auto spend
- Add dayparting and bid rules for Black Friday week so budgets do not run out by midday
- Check FBA stock and the holiday peak fulfillment fee before scaling ads
- Review Seller Assistant restock and pricing workflows before switching them on for peak
Amazon Q4 ad checklist
- Set target ACoS from margin
- Fund proven exact match first
- Cap broad and auto spend
- Daypart Black Friday week
- Check FBA stock and peak fee
- Review Seller Assistant rules
How PPC Spider reads the numbers
Amazon's ad business is still growing faster than its own retail sales, so every seller should expect competition in Sponsored Products to keep rising. Our Amazon advertising strategy guide and Amazon PPC bidding strategies cover how to plan Q4 bids, and our Black Friday 2026 seller news has the event dates. Watch your costs too: the holiday peak fulfillment fee applies through the season, and our story on Amazon Seller Assistant AI explains the new workflows. Our Amazon PPC management team sets bids from margin after fees, more updates are on the Amazon advertising news channel, and a free Amazon audit shows where your Q4 ad spend is leaking.
Sources
- Amazon: Amazon.com Announces Third Quarter Results (https://ir.aboutamazon.com/news-release/news-release-details/2026/Amazon-com-Announces-Third-Quarter-Results/default.aspx)
- PPC Land: Amazon ad revenue growth drops to 11% after Prime Day moves to June (https://ppc.land/amazon-ad-revenue-growth-drops-to-11-after-prime-day-moves-to-june/)
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