Netflix, a leading U.S. streaming company familiar to us with Squid Game, is plunging 19% in overtime transactions on the prospect that subscriber growth will slow down.
Netflix has been plunging 18.99% in overtime trading after closing down 1.48% of the regular market earlier.
This is attributed to Netflix’s announcement shortly after the closing of the regular market falling short of expectations.
Netflix predicted in its earnings announcement that 2.5 million customers will be added in the first quarter of this year. This is less than half of analysts’ estimate of 5.9 million, less than 3.98 million in the same period last year.
Netflix lowered expectations for subscriber growth, saying that expected contents such as “Bridgerton” Season 2 and the movie “Adam Project” will be released later than expected.
Netflix also said that the recovery of subscriber growth to the level before the pandemic could be delayed due to economic difficulties caused by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic in various parts of the world, including South America.
The increase in subscribers in the fourth quarter also fell short of expectations. Netflix said it has secured 8.3 million new customers in the fourth quarter. This is below analysts’ expectations (8.4 million).
As of the end of 2021, the company’s total number of global subscribers reached 221.8 million.
Meanwhile, Netflix’s fourth-quarter sales amounted to $7.71 billion, meeting Wall Street’s expectations ($7.71 billion).
