Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) and company CEO Reed Hastings have received a Wells Notice from the Securities Exchange Commission, according to documents released late Thursday.
The issue arose from a Facebook posting by Hastings back in July when he announced Netflix users streamed 1 billion hours in June for the first time in history. Netflix stock soared on the news.
The SEC is investigating whether that information was considered material public information that should have been delivered in a public press release.
In a statement released by Hastings, he conterargued that he had 200,000 subscribers, thus making the announcement a public statement.
“We think the fact of 1 billion hours of viewing in June was not “material” to investors, and we had blogged a few weeks before that we were serving nearly 1 billion hours per month,” Hastings said.
“We remain optimistic this can be cleared up quickly through the SEC’s review process,” he continued.
Shares of Netflix closed up 2.26% to $86.17 on Thursday, before falling 1.33% to $85.02 in after-hours trading.
Samuel Weigley
Follow him on Twitter: SWeigley
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