Amazon CFO Says That Prime Sign-Ups Continued To Increase Despite The Price Hike

Amazon stock is plunging after it delivered disappointing Q2 earnings, including operating loss guidance of between $410 million and $810 million for Q3.

One bright spot came, however, when CFO Tom Szkutak said that Amazon Prime subscriptions are "growing nicely" despite the March price hike from $79 to $99.

"We've added more subscribers in Q2 this year over last year," Szkutak said when asked on the earnings call whether the increase had any affect on sign-ups.

Szkutak also said that Amazon plans to spend more than $100 million on original video content next quarter.

Amazon's original shows - like "Alpha House" and "Mozart in the Jungle" - are available for free for its Amazon Prime customers, alongside a selection of other licensed movies and TV shows.

By continuing to beef up its video content, Amazon is making Prime subscriptions more attractive to potential members, and the more people who sign up for Prime, the better for Amazon (people with Prime spend almost double the amount on Amazon as non-members).

Besides the variety of Instant Video content, Amazon Prime also gives members access to free, two-day shipping on thousands of items, Amazon's new music streaming service, and a selection of books through its Kindle Lender's Library. Amazon reported that users have streamed "millions of hours of music" since Prime Music launched in June.

Amazon didn't release any new numbers about how many Prime subscribers it has, but back in January it confirmed that at least 20 million people are signed up.

Disclosure: Jeff Bezos is an investor in Business Insider through his personal investment company Bezos Expeditions.