Netflix Shares Rewind From 52-Week Highs: Q2 Revenue Miss, Earnings Beat, Subscriber Growth

Netflix, Inc NFLX reported second-quarter financial results after the close. Here’s a rundown of the print and a look at what’s driving the action.

Q2 Earnings: Netflix said second-quarter revenue increased 3% year-over-year to $8.19 billion, which missed the consensus estimate of $8.29 billion, according to Benzinga Pro. The company reported quarterly earnings of $3.29 per share, which beat analyst estimates of $2.85 per share. 

Paid net adds came in at 5.9 million, well above analyst estimates, driven by the company’s paid sharing rollout to more than 100 countries. Netflix said it’s rolling out paid sharing to almost all remaining countries this week.

The company ended the quarter with 238.39 million global paid subscribers, up 8% year-over-year. 

“While we’ve made steady progress this year, we have more work to do to reaccelerate our growth. We remain focused on: creating a steady drumbeat of must watch shows and movies; improving monetization; growing the enjoyment of our games; and investing to improve our service for members,” the company said in a letter to shareholders.

Check This Out: Trading Strategies For Netflix Stock Before And After Q2 Earnings

Q3 Outlook: Netflix sees third-quarter revenue of approximately $8.52 billion versus estimates of $8.68 billion. The company expects third-quarter earnings to come in at $3.52 per share versus estimates of $3.24 per share. 

“Our updated expectation reflects lower cash content spend in 2023 than we originally anticipated due to timing of production starts and the ongoing WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes,” the company said.

“We expect revenue growth will accelerate in the second half of 2023 as monetization grows from our most recent paid sharing launch and we expand our initiative across nearly all remaining countries plus the continued steady growth in our ad-supported plan,” Netflix added.

Netflix shares appear to be facing weakness due to the top-line miss and weak revenue guidance. Earnings and overall subscriber numbers were a bright spot in the quarter.

Management will hold a conference call to discuss these results at 6 p.m. ET.

NFLX Price Action: Netflix hit new 52-week highs on Wednesday before pulling back after hours.

Netflix shares were down 3.58% after hours at $460.50 at the time of publication, according to Benzinga Pro.

Photo Courtesy: Netflix