Amazon vs MercadoLibre: Revenue, Profit and Business Model
Amazon reported $716.9B of revenue in FY2025 and $77.7B of net income. MercadoLibre reported $28.9B of revenue in FY2025 and $2B of net income.
Latest financial snapshot
Amazon
- Latest revenue
- $716.9B (FY2025)
- Net income
- $77.7B
- Net margin
- 10.8%
- Revenue growth
- +20.3% a year, FY2016–FY2025
MercadoLibre
- Latest revenue
- $28.9B (FY2025)
- Net income
- $2B
- Net margin
- 6.9%
- Revenue growth
- +48.1% a year, FY2016–FY2025
Financial summary
Amazon
Amazon's headline revenue understates how concentrated its profit is. FY2025 net sales were $716.9B and operating income was $80.0B, of which AWS supplied $45.6B on $128.7B of sales. The North America segment turned $426.3B of sales into $29.6B of operating income, and International turned $161.9B into $4.8B. Advertising services, which Amazon reports inside the retail segments, grew from $56.2B in FY2024 to $68.6B in FY2025. Operating cash flow was $139.5B, but capital spending on AWS and AI capacity reached $131.8B, leaving free cash flow of $11.2B against $38.2B a year earlier.
MercadoLibre
Revenue has compounded quickly: $10.8 billion in 2022, $15.1 billion in 2023, $20.8 billion in 2024 and $28.9 billion in 2025. Net income rose from $482 million in 2022 to about $2.0 billion in 2025, and 2025 operating cash flow was about $12.1 billion, boosted by fintech balances. Margins are now under pressure. In Q2 2026, revenue grew 50% to $10.2 billion, but operating income was $683 million (a 6.7% margin) and net income fell 11% to $466 million, or $9.19 per share. The drivers were credit-card expansion, free-shipping subsidies and first-party retail investment.
Revenue and profit by year
Amazon
| Year | Revenue | Net income | Margin | Growth | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | $716.9B | $77.7B | 10.8% | +12.4% | Source |
| FY2024 | $638B | $59.2B | 9.3% | +11.0% | Source |
| FY2023 | $574.8B | $30.4B | 5.3% | +11.8% | Source |
| FY2022 | $514B | -$2.7B | -0.5% | +9.4% | Source |
| FY2021 | $469.8B | $33.4B | 7.1% | +21.7% | Source |
| FY2020 | $386.1B | $21.3B | 5.5% | +37.6% | Source |
| FY2019 | $280.5B | $11.6B | 4.1% | +20.5% | Source |
| FY2018 | $232.9B | $10.1B | 4.3% | +30.9% | Source |
| FY2017 | $177.9B | $3B | 1.7% | +30.8% | Source |
| FY2016 | $136B | $2.4B | 1.7% | — | Source |
MercadoLibre
| Year | Revenue | Net income | Margin | Growth | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | $28.9B | $2B | 6.9% | +39.1% | Source |
| FY2024 | $20.8B | $1.9B | 9.2% | +37.5% | Source |
| FY2023 | $15.1B | $987M | 6.5% | +40.1% | Source |
| FY2022 | $10.8B | $482M | 4.5% | +52.5% | Source |
| FY2021 | $7.1B | $83M | 1.2% | +77.9% | Source |
| FY2020 | $4B | -$1M | -0.0% | +73.1% | Source |
| FY2019 | $2.3B | -$172M | -7.5% | +59.5% | Source |
| FY2018 | $1.4B | -$36.6M | -2.5% | +18.3% | Source |
| FY2017 | $1.2B | $13.8M | 1.1% | +44.1% | Source |
| FY2016 | $844.4M | $136.4M | 16.1% | — | Source |
Where the revenue comes from
Amazon
- Online stores37.6%
First-party product and digital media sales recorded gross. $269.3B of FY2025 net sales.
- Third-party seller services24.0%
Referral commissions plus related fulfillment and shipping fees charged to independent sellers. $172.2B of FY2025 net sales.
- AWS18.0%
Cloud compute, storage, database, and AI services sold on consumption pricing. $128.7B of FY2025 net sales and $45.6B of operating income.
- Advertising services9.6%
Sponsored ads, display, and video advertising sold to sellers, vendors, publishers, and authors. $68.6B of FY2025 net sales.
- Subscription services6.9%
Prime membership fees plus digital video, music, audiobook, and e-book subscriptions. $49.6B of FY2025 net sales.
- Physical stores3.1%
Sales where customers select items in a store, mainly Whole Foods Market and Amazon Fresh. $22.6B of FY2025 net sales.
- Other0.8%
Shipping services, healthcare services, certain video licensing, and co-branded credit card agreements. $5.9B of FY2025 net sales.
MercadoLibre
No segment breakdown is published.
Business model and strategy
Amazon
How it makes money
Amazon runs a hybrid model: it buys inventory and sells it directly, and it rents its store, warehouses, and ad inventory to independent sellers. In FY2025 online stores produced $269.3B of net sales, third-party seller services $172.2B, advertising services $68.6B, subscription services $49.6B, physical stores $22.6B, and AWS $128.7B.
Growth strategy
Amazon's growth now comes mostly from the higher-margin layers on top of its infrastructure. Advertising services grew from $56.2B in FY2024 to $68.6B in FY2025 as Amazon added inventory in Prime Video, grocery, and its demand-side platform.
Competitive advantage
Amazon's advantages depend on scale rather than patents. It carried $534.1B of gross property and equipment at the end of FY2025, including $155.1B of land and buildings and $172.5B of servers and networking equipment, which pays for delivery speed and cloud capacity smaller rivals cannot fund.
MercadoLibre
How it makes money
MercadoLibre makes money in two ways. Commerce (Mercado Libre) charges sellers commissions on marketplace sales, collects shipping and fulfillment fees through Mercado Envios, sells advertising through Mercado Ads, and runs some first-party retail.
Growth strategy
Growth is coming from three places. First, buyer frequency: unique active buyers rose 26% to 89.3 million in Q2 2026 after Brazil's free-shipping threshold was lowered. Second, fintech depth: Mercado Pago monthly active users grew 30% to 88 million, quarterly payment volume topped $100 billion, and the credit book reached $16.4 billion. Third, higher-margin add-ons such as Mercado Ads and the Meli+ subscription.
Competitive advantage
MercadoLibre's main edge is that commerce, payments, credit and logistics all sit inside one company. It runs its own fulfillment centers, delivery fleet and Meli Air cargo flights, so it controls delivery speed in markets where postal services are unreliable.
Questions about Amazon vs MercadoLibre
Which company has higher revenue — Amazon.com, Inc. or MercadoLibre, Inc.?
Amazon.com, Inc. reported $716.9B (FY2025), while MercadoLibre, Inc. reported $28.9B (FY2025). By last reported revenue, Amazon.com, Inc. is the larger business, with MercadoLibre, Inc. reporting a smaller revenue base.
What is the market cap of Amazon.com, Inc. vs MercadoLibre, Inc.?
Amazon.com, Inc.'s market capitalisation stands at $2.69T, while MercadoLibre, Inc.'s is $89.0B. Amazon.com, Inc. carries the higher market valuation, reflecting investors' expectations of its future earnings power relative to MercadoLibre, Inc..
Which is more financially efficient — Amazon.com, Inc. or MercadoLibre, Inc.?
Amazon.com, Inc. generates $455k / employee in revenue per employee, while MercadoLibre, Inc. generates $234k / employee. Amazon.com, Inc. shows higher revenue efficiency per headcount, though this reflects business model differences — capital-light software companies routinely outperform labour-intensive manufacturers on this metric.
How do Amazon.com, Inc. and MercadoLibre, Inc. make money?
Amazon.com, Inc. and MercadoLibre, Inc. generate revenue in fundamentally different ways. Amazon.com, Inc.: Amazon runs a hybrid model: it buys inventory and sells it directly, and it rents its store, warehouses, and ad inventory to independent sellers. MercadoLibre, Inc.: MercadoLibre makes money in two ways.
Which company is valued higher relative to revenue — Amazon.com, Inc. or MercadoLibre, Inc.?
On a price-to-sales (P/S) basis, Amazon.com, Inc. trades at 3.8x P/S and MercadoLibre, Inc. at 3.1x P/S. Amazon.com, Inc. commands a higher revenue multiple, typically indicating that investors expect faster growth or higher future margins compared to MercadoLibre, Inc.. A higher multiple is not inherently better — it may also signal that the stock is priced for perfection.
Is Amazon.com, Inc. bigger than MercadoLibre, Inc.?
By last reported revenue, Amazon.com, Inc. ($716.9B (FY2025)) is the larger company compared to MercadoLibre, Inc. ($28.9B (FY2025)). Revenue scale is one dimension of size — market capitalisation, employee count, and geographic reach are also relevant depending on the context.
Figures come from each company's filings and the sources linked beside them. Amounts reported in another currency are shown in US dollars at an approximate rate and marked with ~. Back to the Amazon vs MercadoLibre overview