Research archive for NFLX

Netflix are launching an ad-supported service and they have picked Microsoft as their partner. You might not have known this, but Microsoft made $10 billion in advertising sales last year, mostly through Xandr, an ad service business they bought from AT&T.

Disney has done incredibly well to leverage off their well known characters. From merchandise to games to theme parks. They even have Disney cruise ships, decorated with exciting themes, rides and restaurants. With dwindling subscriber numbers and increasing content costs, the time is nigh for Netflix to start doing the same, but they need to think out of the box.

Last night Netflix reported very disappointing numbers. The share price of the company is based on the expectation of continued subscriber and profit growth and guidance was for the addition of between 2.5 million to 4 million new paying accounts. Instead they reported a drop in accounts of 200 000, including the deactivation of 700 000 accounts in Russia. Even taking those into account, this was a big miss.

The streaming industry is entering a new growth phase. In the past, any company with a reliable platform and decent content would attract subscribers because people didn't have many options. We are now at the point where there is probably too much choice.

We have seen advertising become a big money spinner for tech companies with large audiences. Amazon is a good example. Now, Disney Plus will launch an ad-supported version. These news stories got me thinking again about Netflix's potential to deepen its advertising revenues.

Netflix released its earnings last week Thursday after the market closed, and warned of slowing subscriber growth. The following day, the share price of the streaming giant tumbled by 21.8%, even though it beat on profits, and revenues were in line with expectations.

Over the weekend Netflix announced that they are increasing subscription prices in the US. The company has incredible pricing power, meaning that every year or two they push through higher prices.

Netflix has launched five mobile games for their subscribers this week. According to this Business Insider article the games are only available on Android platforms for now.

Tuesday night's Netflix results were more interesting than usual. Squid Game is all the craze at the moment, driving new subscribers to the service. Would subscriber growth be enough for Netflix to make it to the next round or would they be eliminated? If that comment doesn't make sense to you, then you still need to watch the mega-hit Korean series.

Journalist Trung Phan, who writes for The Hustle, dropped a great thread about Netflix's thumbnail technology yesterday. Thumbnails are the little images that promote each show when you log in to your Netflix account. They visually suggest what you should watch next.

Netflix is in talks to buy the complete works of the late British novelist Roald Dahl. Usually, the streaming giant sticks to deals with big-name filmmakers and TV producers who deliver fresh content, so this announcement came as a surprise.

Netflix had second quarter results out on Tuesday night, and their subscriber growth numbers were described as "lumpy". That was expected, to be fair, since Covid created significant churn in signups over the past 18 months.

Yesterday Netflix announced that it has partnered with Amblin, Steven Spielberg's production company, to make multiple movies a year. We are still light on details about the deal, but this is a big win for Netflix. To stay relevant as a streaming company, Netflix needs to release quality content for its users to watch regularly. Partnering with a big Hollywood name is one way to improve the odds of having quality content.

After the market closed on Tuesday night Netflix announced their latest set of quarterly numbers. They beat both revenue and profit expectations but badly missed subscriber growth forecasts. As a result Netflix shares dropped by 8% during the trading session yesterday.

Many content creators have their own streaming platforms these days. But some big creators like Sony do not. Movie theatres are still closed and they need access to eyes. Sony have decided to partner with Netflix to distribute their content for the next 5 years.