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☆ Wolfe Research downgrades Netflix, says streaming giant's growth forecasts raise concerns
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-13 | by ( Hakyung Kim | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Netflix 's valuation may not be able to withstand falling growth expectations, according to Wolfe Research. Analyst Peter Supino downgraded the streaming service to peer perform from outperform. However, he said he has growing concerns about the company's 2024-2025 growth forecasts. "If future growth falls short, we doubt that NFLX's 50% P/E and 70% EV/EBITDA premium to the S & P would hold up," Supino said in a Friday note. "At today's valuation, Netflix needs to show a virtuous cycle of content, engagement, subs & pricing for shares to appreciate.

Persons: Peter Supino, Supino, Spencer Neumann, — Michael Bloom Organizations: Netflix, Wolfe Research, CY23E

☆ Netflix replaces top ad exec after one year in surprise shakeup, putting a company insider in charge of the growing business
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-03 | by ( Lucia Moses | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Netflix replaced its top advertising executive, Jeremi Gorman, after just a year, in a surprise shakeup of its nascent ads business. Insiders said they believed the choice of Reinhard to replace Gorman was a move designed to help sell the advertising business internally. But she's been with the company since 2016 and is known as a level-headed exec who understands the Netflix culture well. This summer, the company eliminated its lowest-priced ad-free tier to incentivize customers to sign up for the ads tier. We've built a world-class team and laid the foundations needed to create a forever ads business."

Persons: Jeremi Gorman, Gorman, Peter Naylor —, Amy Reinhard, Naylor, Reinhard, Greg Peters, Eunice Kim, Elizabeth Stone, she's, She's, they've, We've, Spencer Neumann, Peters Organizations: Netflix, Microsoft, Yahoo

☆ Stocks making the biggest moves midday: Netflix, Etsy, HP, Visa and more
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-14 | by ( Brian Evans | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Striking Writers Guild of America members walk the picket line in front of Netflix offices in Los Angeles, July 12, 2023. Check out the companies making headlines in midday trading:Visa — The credit card behemoth's stock was trading more than 2% lower after announcing plans to change its share structure. Netflix — The streaming giant's shares slipped roughly 2% in midday trading after Chief Financial Officer Spencer Neumann said the ongoing Hollywood writers' strike is bad for business. The movie theater chain said it sold 40 million shares at an average price of $8.14, raising about $325.5 million. Etsy — The e-commerce retailer's stock rose nearly 3% after Wolfe Research upgraded Etsy to outperform from a peer perform rating, citing improving consumer spending and margins.

Persons: Semtech, Spencer Neumann, Neumann, Warren, Berkshire Hathaway, —, Samantha Subin, Pia Singh, Alex Harring Organizations: Guild of America, Netflix, Visa, FactSet, Penn Entertainment, Deutsche Bank, Penn, ESPN BET, AMC Entertainment, AMC, Wolfe Research, HP, Exxon Mobil, Chevron —, Exxon, Chevron Locations: Los Angeles, U.S, China

☆ Netflix stock sinks as Wall Street looks for clarity on revenue growth
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-20 | by ( Lillian Rizzo | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

"I think people expected a lot more revenue growth in the third quarter, plus there was the weakness in [average revenue per membership]," said analyst Michael Nathanson of MoffettNathanson. Netflix stock sank more than 9% Thursday after a quarterly earnings report that was largely positive, but left Wall Street underwhelmed and uncertain about key revenue drivers. Netflix's stock has risen on the rollout of ad-supported streaming and a new password sharing policy, which are both meant to boost revenue. "Most of our revenue growth this year is from growth in volume through new paid memberships, and that's largely driven by our paid sharing rollout," Neumann said. In a note following the earnings report, however, Cahall said "patience is a virtue," and called out investors that were "over-exuberant on paid sharing," noting revenue growth will take longer.

Persons: Michael Nathanson, Spencer Neumann, Neumann, Wells, Steven Cahall, Cahall, Greg Peters Organizations: MoffettNathanson, Netflix, Wall Street, Hollywood

☆ How Netflix can end the Hollywood strike in a way Disney, Paramount can't afford
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-20 | by ( Tim Mullaney | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +10 min

"The strike is not something we wanted," said Sarandos, whose company is negotiating jointly with competing movie studios like Disney and Paramount whose parent companies also own streaming services. Some big-media companies that own streaming services, like Paramount and Disney, have seen their shares drop even in the renewed bull market of the past year. LightShed Partners analyst Rich Greenfield says Netflix made $6.5 billion last year excluding interest, taxes, and non-cash charges, while rival streaming services at Paramount, Disney and NBC lost more than $8 billion. That's a relatively small number for an industry with revenues topping $70 billion, $31.6 billion of it last year at Netflix. Paramount Global's Paramount+ service lost $1.8 billion last year, but saw losses shrink in the first quarter.

Persons: Mike Blake, Mark Mahaney, Ted Sarandos, Greg Peters, Michael Pachter, Robert Iger, Iger, CNBC's David Faber, Max, Rich Greenfield, Mahaney, hasn't, Jake Urbanski, Jamie Lumley, Peters, Spencer Neumann Organizations: Guild of America, Netflix, Alliance, Producers, Wednesday, Writers Guild of America, Screen, American Federation of Television, Radio Artists, Disney, Paramount Global, Amazon, Wedbush Securities, Television Producers, CNBC, Walt Disney Co, Sun, Paramount, Warner Bros, LightShed, NBC, Hollywood, Moody's Investors Service, Writers ' Guild of America, WGA, Twitter, Hulu, Comcast, Apple Locations: Los Angeles , California, U.S

LOS ANGELES, July 19 (Reuters) - Streaming video pioneer Netflix (NFLX.O) disappointed Wall Street on Wednesday with second-quarter revenue that fell short of analyst estimates, sending shares tumbling nearly 9% in after-hours trading. Netflix has been looking for new ways to make money as streaming competition intensifies and it nears market saturation in the United States. Its nearly 6 million subscriber additions outpaced the 1.9 million that Wall Street expected. Quarterly revenue climbed 2.7% from a year earlier to $8.2 billion, shy of analyst forecasts of $8.3 billion. Netflix said its advertising tier remained a small part of its membership base and that current ad revenue is not material.

Persons: we’ve, Craig Huber, Huber, We've, Spencer Neumann, Jeffrey Wlodarczak, Ted Sarandos, Sarandos, Lisa Richwine, Dawn Chmielewski, Yuvraj Malik, Deepa Babington, Chris Reese Organizations: Netflix, Refinitiv, Huber Research Partners, Research, Thomson Locations: ANGELES, United States, Los Angeles, Bengaluru

☆ Netflix gets rid of cheapest basic ad-free option in the U.S., U.K.
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-19 | by ( Lillian Rizzo | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Netflix has gotten rid of its cheapest commercial-free plan in the U.S. and the U.K., in a push to get more sign-ups for its recently launched ad-supported option. The move leaves Netflix's standard with ads plan, which is priced at $6.99 a month, as its cheapest option. During last quarter's earnings call, Netflix Chief Financial Officer Spencer Neumann said the "economics" of its ad-supported plan were higher than the basic plan. "It's actually even higher than our standard plan," he said during the call, adding that advertising was incremental to both its revenue and profit. Similarly, Disney CEO Bob Iger has said the company is leaning into its ad-supported streaming option to get to profitability.

Persons: Spencer Neumann, It's, Reed Hastings, Ted Sarandos, Bob Iger Organizations: Netflix, Disney Locations: Krakow, Poland, U.S

☆ Inside Netflix's growing M&A machine, who's leading it, and what insiders think the streamer could buy next
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-21 | by ( Lucia Moses | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

It then delved further into M&A to kickstart its games business. And the streamer hasn't completely abandoned its build-from-within strategy, as it also announced plans last fall to build its own gaming studio in Finland. He recently was elevated to the Lstaff, a group of 25 Netflix business heads who debate its biggest initiatives. (Netflix ended up doing a partnership in 2019 with that company, Studio Dragon, and its parent CJ ENM.) But leadership has been steadfast that Netflix's M&A mantra hasn't changed.

Persons: Here's, Reed Hastings, It's, it's, who's, what's, Roald Dahl, Dahl, Peter Rabbit, Spry, Harry Potter, execs, Spencer Wang, Michael Porter, Spencer Neumann, who'd, Neumann, Wang, Greg Peters, Ted Sarandos, Bela Bajaria, Scott Stuber, Mike Verdu, Jay MacDonald, Digiday, Ana Milicevic, Hastings, Sarandos, CJ ENM, Mario Organizations: Netflix, stoke, Paramount, Night School, Spry Fox, Disney, Warner Bros, DC Comics, Digital Capital Advisors, MLB, Surf League, Street Journal, Microsoft, Sparrow Advisers, MGM, Amazon, Mario Bros, Activision Blizzard, Epic Games, UBS Locations: Finland, New Jersey, Hollywood

☆ Netflix shareholders reject sky-high executive pay packages
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-02 | by ( Nicole Goodkind | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

New York CNN —Netflix shareholders voted on Thursday to reject multi-million dollar pay packages for the company’s top executives including for co-CEOs Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters. Frederic J. Brown/AFP/Getty ImagesNetflix’s proposed executive pay packages for 2023 included up to $40 million for Sarandos, including base salary, a performance bonus and stock options. Netflix’s board, meanwhile, is able to disregard the results of this “say on pay” vote and approve executive compensation plans in spite of shareholder wishes. The board has already unanimously recommended voting for the pay packages. Last year, just 27% of Netflix shareholders approved of 2022 executive compensation packages.

Persons: Ted Sarandos, Greg Peters, ”, Meredith Stiehm, Frederic J . Brown, Peters, Reed Hastings, Spencer Neumann, David Hyman, Rachel Whetstone Organizations: New, New York CNN, Netflix, Writers Guild of America, Hollywood, WGA, Guild of America, Comcast, Getty, Securities and Exchange Commission Locations: New York, Hollywood , California, AFP

☆ Netflix insiders applaud new co-CEO Greg Peters, 'the only real visionary' in the C-suite, but scratch their heads over what other exec changes mean for the company
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( Elaine Low | Lucia Moses | Claire Atkinson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Netflix's elevation of Greg Peters to co-CEO shows the importance of its advertising sales effort. But Bela Bajaria's rise to content chief has caused some confusion about the future of the TV and film organization. The Netflix veteran now shares the role with current co-CEO Ted Sarandos, as company cofounder Reed Hastings steps down and settles into an executive chairman position. The move made a lot of sense to industry insiders, and even publicly, Netflix had been signaling the ascension for some time. Netflix insiders said Bajaria's new title underscored the importance of TV versus film in the streaming wars.

☆ Netflix set for slowest revenue growth as ad plan struggles to gain traction
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-17 | by ( Eva Mathews | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

REUTERS/Bing GuanJan 17 (Reuters) - Netflix Inc (NFLX.O) is expected to report its slowest quarterly revenue growth on Thursday as its ad-supported plan struggles to attract customers in the saturating U.S. market, which could pressure the company to pull back on content spending this year. "Given current interest rates, Netflix will have to be very selective about green-lighting content and how they would finance it." It returned to subscriber growth in the third quarter, but its stock, an investor favorite during its years of rapid growth, still ended the year with a drop of more than 50%. "As overall streaming growth flattens out, most of the more mature streaming platforms have leveled off as well," MoffettNathanson said, adding that Netflix's reach fell by 200 basis points in the quarter. Reuters GraphicsStill, some analysts believe that the ad-supported plan will pay off in the long run, especially in developing markets, where spending power is weaker.

Insider identified 75 of the most powerful execs at the streamer, in an interactive org chart. Product chief Greg Peters took on additional duties as chief operating officer and has since broadened his purview to include gaming. Former PepsiCo exec Sergio Ezama joined in 2021 to become Netflix's chief talent officer. Insider identified 75 of the most powerful executives now at Netflix. They include C-suite executives finance chief Spencer Neumann, as well as business leads like Bajaria and movie boss Scott Stuber.

Netflix founder and co-CEO Reed Hastings said Wednesday he was slow to come around to advertising on the streaming platform because he was too focused on digital competition from Facebook and Google . "So Google and Facebook were going to mop up the world — and they have in non-TV advertising." Advertisers were "desperate" for avenues in connected TV and internet, Hastings said, but Netflix was still on the sidelines. "We didn't have to steal away the advertising revenue. There are also free streaming services, such as Paramount's Pluto and Fox Corp.'s Tubi, which make revenue solely through advertising.

Now, Netflix is gunning for the last reel of the pay TV business: its estimated $153 billion pool of global advertising revenue. The company and some analysts see its new, cheaper ad-supported service, detailed in a rosy quarterly report on Tuesday, as a way to lift revenue as customers trim spending amid economic gloom. As TV's audience shrinks, it becomes less attractive for advertisers - and a plum target for Netflix to disrupt. Netflix plans to launch an ad-supported version of its service in the United States and 11 other countries in November. Some Wall Street analysts said the ad-supported version of the Netflix service might entice some price-sensitive existing subscribers to switch to the less-expensive option.

Netflix has overhauled key leadership, naming a co-CEO, talent chief, and heads of TV and marketing. Insider identified 71 of the most powerful execs at the streamer, in an interactive org chart. Insider identified the 71 of the most powerful executives now at Netflix, following the recent executive changes. Netflix has many leaders — not all of whom are included here — but the chart below gives an inside look at who to watch in 2021. The executive shuffle came as Netflix's global audience reached 209 million paid subscribers in March, driven mainly by international viewers.

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