This Jan. 29, 2010, file photo shows the company logo and view of Netflix headquarters in Los Gatos, Calif. Netflix's normally lighthearted Twitter account took on a more somber tone on Saturday, May 30, 2020: "To be silent is to be complicit. Black lives matter. We have a platform, and we have a duty to our Black members, employees, creators and talent to speak up." (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez, File)
By Michael Liedtke and Tali Arbel
Netflix added a flood of new subscribers amid the coronavirus pandemic and also offered clues to a possible successor for founding CEO Reed Hastings, who on Thursday named the company's chief content officer, Ted Sarandos, as co-CEO.
"Ted has been my partner for decades. This change makes formal what was already informal — that Ted and I share the leadership of Netflix," said Hastings in a statement.
The company picked up 10.1 million worldwide subscribers during the April-June period, more than triple what it usually adds in that period.
The increase announced Thursday with Netflix's second-quarter earnings eclipsed the gain of 8.3 million subscribers projected among analysts polled by FactSet. Netflix ended June with 193 million worldwide subscribers, including 70 million in the U.S. and Canada, its largest geographic market.
Nearly 26 million of those subscribers have joined Netflix during the first six months of this year — more than double the number compared with last year — as the pandemic curtailed travel and even nights out on the town. The restrictions have turned out to be a boon for Netflix, which also faces a slew of new streaming competitors such as Disney Plus and HBO Max.
Netflix Inc., however, said its subscriber growth has begun to slow after it added just 2 million fewer customers in the past six months as it did for all of 2019. It forecasts just 2.5 million new additions for the current quarter.
The pandemic has shut down Hollywood, limiting the ability of TV and movie studios to produce more entertainment to feed Netflix and other video streaming services. That could limit their appeal if viewers run out of new things to watch. Netflix said Thursday that it is slowly resuming production, mostly in Asia and Europe, and its 2020 lineup remains intact. Shooting delays mean big shows and movies slated for next year will come out more in the second half of 2021.
People spending more time at home due to the pandemic has "massively accelerated the shift" from traditional TV to streaming video," said eMarketer analyst Eric Haggstrom in an email. That bodes well for Netflix, the streaming pioneer. "Even as lockdowns are relaxed and new competitors begin to scale their services, Netflix will extend its lead as the first stop for entertainment." He predicts that Netflix will get one-third of streaming subscribers globally in 2020.
The Los Gatos, California, company's extraordinary expansion helped Netflix earn $720 million on revenue of $6.15 billion during the second quarter.
Investors have been betting the pandemic will make Netflix more popular than ever. Since public health experts officially declared the pandemic on March 11, Netflix's stock has soared by 50 percent.
The shares tumbled 10 percent to $473.24 in Thursday's extended trading after the subscriber growth numbers came out.
The Rev. Al Sharpton is set to lead a protest march on Wall Street to urge corporate America to resist the Trump administration’s campaign to roll back diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. The New York civil rights leader will join clergy, labor and community leaders Thursday in a demonstration through Manhattan’s Financial District that’s timed with the anniversary of the Civil Rights-era March on Washington in 1963. Sharpton called DEI the “civil rights fight of our generation." He and other Black leaders have called for boycotting American retailers that scaled backed policies and programs aimed at bolstering diversity and reducing discrimination in their ranks.
President Donald Trump's administration last month awarded a $1.2 billion contract to build and operate what's expected to become the nation’s largest immigration detention complex to a tiny Virginia firm with no experience running correction facilities.
Chipmaker Nvidia is poised to release a quarterly report that could provide a better sense of whether the stock market has been riding an overhyped artificial intelligence bubble or is being propelled by a technological boom that’s still gathering momentum.
Cracker Barrel said late Tuesday it’s returning to its old logo after critics — including President Donald Trump — protested the company’s plan to modernize.
Low-value imports are losing their duty-free status in the U.S. this week as part of President Donald Trump's agenda for making the nation less dependent on foreign goods. A widely used customs exemption for international shipments worth $800 or less is set to end starting on Friday. Trump already ended the “de minimis” rule for inexpensive items sent from China and Hong Kong, but having to pay import taxes on small parcels from everywhere else likely will be a big change for some small businesses and online shoppers. Purchases that previously entered the U.S. without needing to clear customs will be subject to the origin country’s tariff rate, which can range from 10% to 50%.
Southwest Airlines will soon require plus-size travelers to pay for an extra seat in advance if they can't fit within the armrests of one seat. This change is part of several updates the airline is making. The new rule starts on Jan. 27, the same day Southwest begins assigning seats. Currently, plus-size passengers can pay for an extra seat in advance and later get a refund, or request a free extra seat at the airport. Under the new policy, refunds are still possible but not guaranteed. Southwest said in a statement it is updating policies to prepare for assigned seating next year.
Cracker Barrel is sticking with its new logo. For now. But the chain is also apologizing to fans who were angered when the change was announced last week.
Elon Musk on Monday targeted Apple and OpenAI in an antitrust lawsuit alleging that the iPhone maker and the ChatGPT maker are teaming up to thwart competition in artificial intelligence.
