Finance

Total sales at Amazon increased 13%, to $143.1 billion, in the third quarter ended September 30, 2023, over the comparable period in 2022, and operating income jumped to $11.2 billion, from $2.5 billion in the third quarter 2022. Online sales rose 7%.

Sales were up 11% and profits increased 8% in the first half of the U.K.-based publisher's fiscal year. Sales in the U.S. were about $76 million, accounting for 46% of total revenue.

This year's ICv2 Insider Talks celebrated the 50th anniversary of the direct market sales channel, even as it acknowledged graphic novels—and particularly manga—as the primary driver for growth in the comics business today, and by a significant margin.

Following a July slump, book sales were up 8.5% in August at the 1,233 publishers that supply data to AAP’s StatShot program.

CEO Michael Pietsch said the 5.2% decline was attributable to "a lighter publication schedule" compared to the same period last year and "a downward trend" in the overall publishing market.

Lower trade book sales and costs associated with the creation of its new School Reading Events business resulted in an operating loss in the quarter at Scholastic.

Book sales fell 10.9% in July at the 1,233 publishers that supply data to AAP’s StatShot program. Sales of adult books dropped 4.6%, and children's/young adult book sales declined 10.7%.

Barnes & Noble Education reported a 3.7% increase in sales in the quarter ended July 29, which the company took as a sign that its new First Day programs are being embraced by more students—and the first step back toward profitability.

In the first half of 2023, publishers struggled to keep expenses down, with multiple companies citing higher costs as the major reason margins shrank in the first six months of 2023.

Despite a tumultuous first half of 2023 that included major buyouts and some layoffs, sales at Penguin Random House rose 9.5% in the first six months of 2023.