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The US streaming provider Netflix has disappointed the experts’ expectations with its outlook for the current quarter. The streaming service announced sales and profits for the first quarter of the year that were in line with the forecasts. However, at 1.75 million, the number of new customers was also below the expectations of around 2.1 million. Netflix now has 232.5 million subscribers.
In the same period last year, the number of subscribers had fallen by 200,000. The group had to accept a decline in the number of customers for the first time in more than a decade.
According to the Jefferies analysts, at the beginning of the year Netflix did not release important successful productions such as “Harry & Meghan” or “The Crown”. Above all, series from non-English-speaking countries such as the Korean drama “The Glory” or the third season of the Mexican series “La Reina del Sur” have attracted viewers.
Netflix’s guidance for the current quarter calls for revenue of $8.2 billion and earnings per share of $2.86. However, experts surveyed by Refinitiv assumed it would be just under 8.5 billion and $3.05. In the first quarter, the company had sales of $8.16 billion. This was in line with market expectations. Net income fell 18 percent to $1.3 billion.
Tough competition
In the face of an uphill battle with competitors like Amazon Prime or Disney+, Netflix wants to rely on those who already use the service – so 100 million people share passwords for the service without paying for it themselves. As a result, the group had taken action against the sharing of passwords in some countries in the past few months. Netflix announced that they want to slow down here.
On the occasion of the publication of the quarterly figures, Netflix announced that it would end its DVD rentals by mail after 25 years. The last DVDs would be sent out on September 29, it said. The mail-order business has recently continued to decline. Netflix was founded in 1997 and launched DVD rentals a year later.
Source: Nachrichten
