Amazon to increase price of annual Prime membership to $139

Feb. 3 (UPI) -- Amazon announced it will raise the price of its Prime membership in the United States, as part of its quarterly earnings report Thursday.

The company said the price of its annual Prime subscriptions will rise to $139 from $119, while the price of a monthly subscription also will increase from $12.99 to $14.99 beginning Feb. 18 for new members. Existing members will see prices increase on the date of their next renewal after March 25.

Users of the service receive benefits such as two-day and same-day shipping on select products and access to the company's streaming platform Amazon Video.

Amazon noted the price increase is the first since 2018 and cited "continued expansion of Prime member benefits, as well as the rise in wages and transportation costs."

Amazon said it has expanded same-day delivery from 48 metropolitan areas to more than 90 and has "tripled the number of Amazon Originals" on its streaming platform.

The company noted that beginning in September, Amazon Video will debut The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power and become the exclusive home of the NFL's Thursday Night Football live games.

Shares of Amazon shot up more than 17% in after-hours trading as it reported a 9% increase in revenue to $137.4 billion in the fourth quarter.

The company posted operating losses in North America and international e-commerce business, but Amazon Web Services operating income rose nearly 49% to $5.3 billion.