The actions of Netflix have suffered strong sales, both in theafter hours yesterday on Wall Street, both this morning on Frankfurt, following the announcement of the farewell of the president and co-founder Reed Hastings and quarterly data that did not meet expectations. Streaming companies Frankfurt are down 8,7%, while in New York in the after-hours they had lost 9%, still showing an increase of about 15% this year.
Hasting's departure comes at a delicate time for Nextlix.
The departure of Hastings, who co-founded the company 29 years ago, actually comes at an inopportune time for the company. Netflix is looking for new avenues for growth as sales are slowing down due to competition, while the transformation and momentum opportunity that would have occurred with the merger with Warner Bros. Discovery It has fallen into disarray. Hastings, 65, said he will not seek re-election at the June annual meeting and intends to devote himself to philanthropy and other activities. Hastings had provided the initial capital for start Netflix as a DVD rental service by mail, succeeding co-founder Marc Randolph as CEO in 1999. He led the company in its historic battle with Blockbuster Video and was the main architect of the switching to streaming, bringing the service to over 190 territories and transforming Netflix into the most valuable entertainment company in the world.
Netflix has always told investors that the acquisition of Warner Bros. was a "desirable, not essential" option. Now, in a letter to shareholders, it says that its strategy will continue to focus onglobal entertainment, offering films and series for all tastes, cultures and languages. The company also said it wants to also use technology to improve the user experience, as advertising revenue is on track to reach $3 billion in 2026, double the previous year.
The company's co-CEO, Greg Peters, He said Netflix ended last year with over 325 million paid subscribers and entertains an audience approaching 1 billion people. "But even considering these numbers, we still have a lot of room for growth in our potential market," he said.
Net profit nearly doubled in the first quarter, thanks in part to the collection of the 2,8 billion penalty from the failure of the Warner Bros. Discovery operation.
The streaming giant recorded a Net income of 5,28 billion dollars, almost doubling the 2,89 billion in the same period of the previous year and the earnings per share stood at $1,23 compared to 66 cents per share in the same quarter of the previous year. The result was supported by a higher-than-expected operating profit and the $2,8 billion penalty collected for the termination of the merger agreement with Warner Bros. Discovery and theoperating profit grew 18% to $4 billion. Revenue increased 16%, from $10,54 billion to $12,25 billion, beating the $12,18 billion estimate.
However, the forecasts for the second quarter are disappointing.
What disappointed the markets, however, were the forecasts for the future. Netflix confirmed guidance for 2026 remains unchanged, with revenues expected between $50,7 billion and $51,7 billion. For the second quarter, the company estimates revenue growth of 13,5%, to about 12,57 billion — just above the first-quarter pace, but below of the 12,64 billion expected by analysts.earning per share is expected at 78 cents, well below the 84 cents estimated by Wall Street.
