If they were smart they would have continued the series to keep kids interested and then ween them onto the older series. Increase fan base = increase monetization of products.
I too am saddened by the loss of the potential this show had. I loved the colorful animations. Even my husband, who is not a fan of Picard or Discovery, enjoyed Prodigy with surprisingly little criticism (he has a lot of opinions contrary to mine about the nature of the newer generation of Star Trek series).
I am holding hope that maybe they will bring it back at some point or perhaps another production company buys creative rights/licensing (not sure how it works) and revives the series.
I don't think it had anything to do with the show itself and was a purely financial move.
Companies across many industries are being told by their investors to cut expenses yesterday and they're abruptly shutting things down, laying people off, etc. Even if they're profitable.
Not just canceled. Removed from the platform. They have a product that they already paid for that is part of a franchise that has diehard fans who will watch and rewatch even if they dont like it, but somehow it is more profitable to scrub the internet of its existence.
Reminds me of the original series, cancelled right before they started tracking demographics, only to realize it was hitting all the right buttons and they'd killed the golden goose.