Netflix loses subscribers for the first time in ten years, the title falls | Photo credits: Netflix
(Reuters) – Netflix on Tuesday reported a loss in subscriber numbers for the first time in more than a decade, and said it expected the trend to deepen in the second quarter, a rare setback. for the online video giant which is usually a safe bet for investors.
The group’s stock plunged 24% in post-close trading on Wall Street, dragging other streaming-related companies like Roku, Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery in its wake.
During the first quarter, Netflix lost 200,000 subscribers when it expected to gain 2.5 million customers – a modest forecast. This decline is partly explained by the decision of the American group to suspend its activities in Russia last month following the offensive in Ukraine.
You have to go back to October 2011 to find traces of a previous loss of subscribers from the world’s number one streaming company, which currently has 221.6 million customers worldwide.
Netflix said it expects to lose 2 million subscribers in the current quarter, despite the return of several high-profile series including “Stranger Things” and “Ozark.”
According to Refinitiv data, Wall Street expected Netflix to have 227 million customers in the second quarter.
Over the January-March period, the group achieved a turnover up 10% to 7.87 billion dollars, slightly below expectations (7.93 billion dollars).
(Reporting Dawn Chmielewski in Los Angeles, with Lisa Richwine in Los Angeles and Nivedita Balu in Bangalore; French version Jean Terzian)
by Dawn Chmielewski