(LR) Netflix Co-CEOs Reed Hastings and Ted Sarandos arrive for the Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference on July 6, 2021 in Sun Valley, Idaho.
Kevin Dietsch | Getty Images
Netflix is expected to report fourth-quarter results Thursday after the bell.
Here are the key numbers analysts are looking for:
- Earnings per share (EPS): 82 cents is expected in a Refinitiv poll of analysts.
- Revenue: According to Refinitiv, $7.71 billion is expected.
- Global Additions to Net Paid Subscribers: 8.19 million, according to StreetAccount estimates
Analysts expect the company to add 8.19 million paying Internet subscribers worldwide, almost doubling the amount from the previous quarter. Netflix added 4.4 million subscribers in the third quarter.
Netflix and analysts had been expecting a big spike in consumer numbers towards the end of 2021, as the company released new TV shows and movies that had been pushed back to the latter half of the year.
Bright spots in the quarter could come from strong releases like the celebrity-filled “Don’t Look Up” and “Emily in Paris.” The company had said it would spend $17 billion on content in 2021. It has yet to release figures for 2022 spending.
Netflix announced price increases in the US and Canada last week. In the US, the monthly cost for the basic plan increased by $1 to $9.99. The standard plan went from $13.99 to $15.49 and the premium plan went from $17.99 to $19.99.
Netflix’s strategy is to raise prices as customers become even more entrenched in the company’s exclusive content. Price increases can help offset slowing customer growth.
But some analysts seemed cautious ahead of the earnings report.
“With Q4 ’21 being widely cited as Netflix’s biggest content quarter ever, we expect investors to recalibrate their long-term prospects based on whether or not this large content list has driven strong growth,” Douglas Mitchelson said from Credit Suisse in a statement last week.
Netflix also continues to face stiff competition from services like Disney+, HBO Max, Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV+, and others.
“Based on our reading of multiple data points, we have a feeling that Netflix’s US business is being impacted by… the legacy media companies’ increasingly aggressive streaming strategies,” MoffettNathanson’s Michael Nathanson wrote last week.
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