Amazon vs Wayfair: Revenue, Profit and Business Model
Amazon reported $716.9B of revenue in FY2025 and $77.7B of net income. Wayfair reported $12.5B of revenue in FY2025 and a net loss of $313M.
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.
Wayfair
Wayfair's revenue peaked at $14.1 billion in 2020 and fell each year to $11.85 billion in 2024. In FY2025 net revenue grew 5.1% to $12.457 billion, gross margin was 30.2%, income from operations was $17 million and the net loss was $313 million. Adjusted EBITDA was $743 million and free cash flow was $329 million. Growth continued in 2026: Q2 net revenue rose 7.5% to $3.519 billion, operating income was $104 million, the net loss was $1 million and free cash flow was $301 million, the highest quarterly figure since 2020.
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 |
Wayfair
| Year | Revenue | Net income | Margin | Growth | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | $12.5B | -$313M | -2.5% | +5.1% | Source |
| FY2024 | $11.9B | -$492M | -4.2% | -1.3% | Source |
| FY2023 | $12B | -$738M | -6.1% | -1.8% | Source |
| FY2022 | $12.2B | -$1.3B | -10.9% | -10.9% | Source |
| FY2021 | $13.7B | -$131M | -1.0% | -3.1% | Source |
| FY2020 | $14.1B | $185M | 1.3% | +55.0% | Source |
| FY2019 | $9.1B | -$985M | -10.8% | +34.6% | Source |
| FY2018 | $6.8B | -$504.1M | -7.4% | +43.6% | Source |
| FY2017 | $4.7B | -$244.6M | -5.2% | +39.7% | Source |
| FY2016 | $3.4B | -$194.4M | -5.8% | — | 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.
Wayfair
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.
Wayfair
How it makes money
Wayfair earns most of its revenue by selling home products listed by roughly 20,000 suppliers. Much of the catalog ships directly from suppliers, so Wayfair carries limited inventory, while suppliers can also place goods in Wayfair's CastleGate fulfillment network to speed up delivery of bulky items. Revenue is recognized when orders are delivered.
Growth strategy
Wayfair is focused on gaining share in the U.S., expanding large-format stores (Wilmette in 2024, Atlanta in 2026, with Denver planned), growing its specialty and luxury brands, building supplier services around CastleGate, and keeping fixed costs below their pre-2024 levels.
Competitive advantage
Wayfair's edge is a home-only catalog from about 20,000 suppliers, a logistics network built for large parcels, separate brands for different styles and price points, and a customer base where repeat buyers place roughly 80% of orders.
Questions about Amazon vs Wayfair
Which company has higher revenue — Amazon.com, Inc. or Wayfair?
Amazon.com, Inc. reported $716.9B (FY2025), while Wayfair reported $12.5B (FY2025). By last reported revenue, Amazon.com, Inc. is the larger business, with Wayfair reporting a smaller revenue base.
What is the market cap of Amazon.com, Inc. vs Wayfair?
Amazon.com, Inc.'s market capitalisation stands at $2.69T, while Wayfair's is $13.4B. Amazon.com, Inc. carries the higher market valuation, reflecting investors' expectations of its future earnings power relative to Wayfair.
Which is more financially efficient — Amazon.com, Inc. or Wayfair?
Amazon.com, Inc. generates $455k / employee in revenue per employee, while Wayfair generates $1.04M / employee. Wayfair 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 Wayfair make money?
Amazon.com, Inc. and Wayfair 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. Wayfair: Wayfair earns most of its revenue by selling home products listed by roughly 20,000 suppliers.
Which company is valued higher relative to revenue — Amazon.com, Inc. or Wayfair?
On a price-to-sales (P/S) basis, Amazon.com, Inc. trades at 3.8x P/S and Wayfair at 1.1x P/S. Amazon.com, Inc. commands a higher revenue multiple, typically indicating that investors expect faster growth or higher future margins compared to Wayfair. A higher multiple is not inherently better — it may also signal that the stock is priced for perfection.
Is Amazon.com, Inc. bigger than Wayfair?
By last reported revenue, Amazon.com, Inc. ($716.9B (FY2025)) is the larger company compared to Wayfair ($12.5B (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 Wayfair overview