Amazon may have as many as 80 million Prime subscribers

Amazon’s investors were skeptical when the company first introduced Amazon Prime, but the premium membership has since risen to become one of the driving forces behind the company’s revenue growth. According to RBC Capital Markets analyst Mark Mahaney, there were around 50 million Amazon Prime subscribers across the globe last year, now there are more than 50 million in the United States alone, with as many as 60 to 80 million globally. 

Amazon.com can grow revenue more than the market expects thanks to its ballooning Prime membership, RBC Capital Markets analyst Mark Mahaney said Friday. RBC increased its price target on Amazon to $705 from $650 based on momentum in its Amazon’s Prime business. It was trading at more than $524 a share on Friday. The firm’s third annual Amazon consumer survey suggested U.S. Prime adoption has risen from 25 percent of customers in 2013 to 40 percent today. The firm now believes Amazon has 50 million U.S. Prime subscribers and 60 million to 80 million global subscribers. Amazon does not make those figures public. That’s important because the longer customers stick with Amazon Prime, the more they spend, Mahaney said. RBC’s survey indicates that 49 percent of first-year Prime members and 68 percent of year-four subscribers spend at least $800 on Amazon each year. “That means that the revenue growth should be sustainable for longer than people realize,” Mahaney told CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street.”