Amazon vs Rakuten: Revenue, Profit and Business Model
Amazon reported $716.9B of revenue in FY2025 and $77.7B of net income. Rakuten reported ~$16.7B of revenue in FY2025 and a net loss of ~$1.2B.
Latest financial snapshot
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.
Rakuten
Rakuten's results for most of the 2020s were shaped by one decision: building Japan's fourth mobile network from 2018 onward. Net losses reached ~$2.5 billion (¥372.9 billion) in FY2022 and ~$2.27 billion (¥339.5 billion) in FY2023 while revenue kept growing. Losses narrowed to ~$1.09 billion (¥162.4 billion) in FY2024 and about $1.19 billion (¥177.9 billion) in FY2025 on revenue of ~$16.8 billion (¥2.50 trillion). The turn came in Q2 2026: revenue of ~$4.46 billion (¥665.5 billion) (+11.6%), EBITDA of ~$773 million (¥115.3 billion) and net income of ~$182 million (¥27.2 billion), the first quarterly profit since Q2 2020, with management targeting a full-year profit for 2026.
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 |
Rakuten
| Year | Revenue | Net income | Margin | Growth | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | ~$16.7B | ~-$1.2B | -7.1% | +9.5% | Source |
| FY2024 | ~$15.3B | ~-$1.1B | -7.1% | +10.0% | Source |
| FY2023 | ~$13.9B | ~-$2.3B | -16.4% | +7.4% | Source |
| FY2022 | ~$12.9B | ~-$2.5B | -19.3% | +14.6% | Source |
| FY2021 | ~$11.3B | ~-$896.6M | -8.0% | — | 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.
Rakuten
- Internet Services (Rakuten Ichiba, Travel, Rewards)Segment
Merchant fees and commissions, advertising, travel bookings and affiliate cash-back commissions.
- FinTech (Rakuten Card, Bank, Securities, Payment)
Segment (~$1.98B (¥295.4B) revenue in Q2 2026)
Card interchange and revolving interest, deposit spreads, brokerage commissions and payment fees.
- Mobile (Rakuten Mobile, Rakuten Symphony)Segment
Monthly mobile subscriptions and Open RAN telecom software and services sold to other operators.
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.
Rakuten
How it makes money
Rakuten makes money from three segments tied together by one Rakuten ID and Rakuten Points. Internet Services (Rakuten Ichiba, Rakuten Travel, Rakuten Rewards, Kobo) earns merchant fees, commissions and advertising, since Ichiba is a marketplace where independent shops run their own storefronts rather than a first-party retailer.
Growth strategy
Rakuten's growth strategy rests on three moves: push Rakuten Mobile toward sustained profitability by adding subscribers who also use other Rakuten services; deepen FinTech by consolidating card, bank and securities under Rakuten Bank to cut funding costs and cross-sell deposits in a rising-rate Japan; and apply AI across Ichiba search, recommendations and merchant tools to lift gross merchandise sales.
Competitive advantage
Rakuten's main edge is cross-use. A single Rakuten ID links shopping, card, bank, brokerage and mobile accounts, and the SPU program raises point rewards for customers who use several services. That base is large: Rakuten Bank had 18.46 million accounts and Rakuten Securities 14.39 million accounts in Q2 2026, and Rakuten Card shopping volume reached ~$186 billion (¥27.7 trillion) over the trailing twelve months.
Questions about Amazon vs Rakuten
Which company has higher revenue — Amazon.com, Inc. or Rakuten?
Amazon.com, Inc. reported $716.9B (FY2025), while Rakuten reported ~$16.7B (FY2025). By last reported revenue, Amazon.com, Inc. is the larger business, with Rakuten reporting a smaller revenue base.
What is the market cap of Amazon.com, Inc. vs Rakuten?
Amazon.com, Inc.'s market capitalisation stands at $2.69T, while Rakuten's is $9.8B. Amazon.com, Inc. carries the higher market valuation, reflecting investors' expectations of its future earnings power relative to Rakuten.
Which is more financially efficient — Amazon.com, Inc. or Rakuten?
Amazon.com, Inc. generates $455k / employee in revenue per employee, while Rakuten generates $507k / employee. Rakuten 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 Rakuten make money?
Amazon.com, Inc. and Rakuten 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. Rakuten: Rakuten makes money from three segments tied together by one Rakuten ID and Rakuten Points.
Which company is valued higher relative to revenue — Amazon.com, Inc. or Rakuten?
On a price-to-sales (P/S) basis, Amazon.com, Inc. trades at 3.8x P/S and Rakuten at 0.6x P/S. Amazon.com, Inc. commands a higher revenue multiple, typically indicating that investors expect faster growth or higher future margins compared to Rakuten. A higher multiple is not inherently better — it may also signal that the stock is priced for perfection.
Is Amazon.com, Inc. bigger than Rakuten?
By last reported revenue, Amazon.com, Inc. ($716.9B (FY2025)) is the larger company compared to Rakuten (~$16.7B (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 Rakuten overview