Investing

Netflix Surges as Rivals Stumble

Douglas A. McIntyre

Published: April 12, 2024 6:40 am

Over the past year, Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) shares have increased by 86% while rivals have lost billions of dollars. The S&P 500 is 36% higher over the same period. The game may already be over in a race that includes at least half a dozen large players.

In its most recently reported quarter, Netflix revenue rose 12% to $8.8 billion. The company forecasts that the growth will be 13% in the current quarter to $9.2 billion. While operating margins slipped to 17% last quarter, they are expected to jump to 26% in this one. Part of the reason for the growth was its ad-supported service. (Check out Netflix Stock Price Prediction in 2030: Bull, Base and Bear Forecasts.)

Netflix said it had 260 million subscribers worldwide in the most recently reported quarter, up from 233 million in the same quarter the year before and 247 million in the immediately previous quarter.

Except for Amazon Prime Video, which is often bundled with the Prime service and includes special deals and free delivery, Netflix competitors have lost billions of dollars. Disney+ has yet to make money since it was launched in 2019. Warner Bros. Discovery’s Max service lost $400 million in the most recently reported quarter.

Several other services will never catch up to Netflix in terms of total subscribers. Paramount+ has 63 million, Hulu has 49 million, Peacock has 28 million, and Apple TV+ has 25 million.

Among the most important parts of Netflix’s success is that Americans typically only subscribe to a few streaming services. Forbes puts the figure at 2.8. Rivals have to try to catch Netflix in an already overcrowded industry.

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