Netflix Lost Nearly a Million Subscribers Last Quarter

Still, that's a lot better than what it had forecast
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 20, 2022 12:32 AM CDT
Netflix Reports 'Less Bad Results' Than Expected
This image released by Netflix shows, from left, Millie Bobby Brown as Eleven, Noah Schnapp as Will Byers, Finn Wolfhard as Mike Wheeler, Charlie Heaton as Jonathan Byers, and Eduardo Franco as Argyle in "Stranger Things."   (Netflix via AP)

Netflix lost subscribers for the second consecutive quarter, this time dropping 970,000, it announced Tuesday. The streaming company had forecast a loss of 2 million, but the Los Angeles Times reports the release of a new season of Stranger Things in two parts—the first half released May 27 and the second half released July 1, forcing people to subscribe for at least two months in order to watch episodes right away—helped. Netflix expects to add a million subscribers in the third quarter; last year in this quarter, it grew by 4.4 million. Even so, the New York Times says the company is likely breathing "a sigh of relief" at the second-quarter results, and CNN says the streaming service has "stop[ped] the bleeding." In a sign of investor relief, shares jumped in after-hours trading Tuesday.

Netflix's revenue was $7.97 billion in the second quarter and its net income was $1.4 billion, up 8.6% and $1.35 billion from a year earlier, respectively. It has been laying off hundreds of workers in an effort to cut costs in recent months as its stock price has plummeted. Netflix co-CEO Reed Hastings called the second-quarter numbers "less bad results" than expected. In addition to adding a cheaper, ad-supported subscription tier, Netflix says it will crack down further on password-sharing. It's testing options in Latin America including an option to add an extra member to an account, or to pay $3 per month to "add a home." (More Netflix stories.)

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