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About Netflix Inc
History of the company
Netflix, Inc. is an American streaming service and production company founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph. The company’s primary business is providing subscription-based streaming services, including films and television series, many of which are produced in-house [1].
Originally, Netflix began as a DVD-by-mail rental service in 1998, where customers would order DVDs online and have them shipped to their homes [2]. In 2007, Netflix expanded its business model by launching a streaming service, allowing subscribers to watch television shows and movies on-demand over the internet [3].
The company’s first original series, “House of Cards,” premiered in 2013, marking its entry into content production [4]. This was followed by other successful original series, such as “Orange Is the New Black” [2013] and “Stranger Things” (2016) [5].
Netflix has since become a dominant force in the streaming industry, with over 230 million subscribers worldwide as of March 2023 [6]. The company has invested heavily in producing original content, which has garnered critical acclaim and numerous awards [7].
Business segments
Today, Netflix’s core business segment is its subscription-based streaming services for films and television series, including those produced in-house. The company offers streaming services to customers in various regions worldwide, with content that varies by region due to licensing agreements.
In addition, Netflix still offers DVD-by-mail rental services in the United States through its subsidiary DVD.com. Customers can order DVDs and Blu-ray discs online and have them shipped to their homes, although this business segment has diminished in importance since the rise of streaming [8].
The company is headquartered in Los Gatos, California, U.S., and has a total staff strength of around 128,000 [9].
About the stock NFLX
NFLX trading information
- Primary exchange: NASDAQ
- Ticker: NFLX
- Country: US
- Currency: USD
- Trading hours:
- Main: 9.30am to 4pm ET, Mon to Fri
- Pre-market: 4am to 9.30am
- After-market: 4pm to 8pm
When was NFLX listed?
NFLX was first listed on the NASDAQ National Market on 23 May 2002, approximately five years after its founding. Its share price at Initial Public Offering (IPO) was USD$15 [10]. After accounting for stock splits, the stock price would be USD$1.07 at IPO.
At the time of writing, the price of one NFLX share is USD$331.70, representing a return of 310x. The stock’s highest price was seen on 15 Nov 2021, when it closed the day at USD$679.33 [11].
Stock splits
NFLX has undergone two stock splits since it started trading [12]. The total number of NFLX stocks outstanding is estimated to be 445 million [13].
| Date | Stock split |
| Jul 2015 | 7 for 1 |
| Feb 2004 | 2 for 1 |
Dividends
NFLX is not a dividend-paying stock.
Latest developments investors should note
Netflix Inc ends 2022 on a bright note [14]
Capping off a challenging year, Q4 2022’s earnings report contained positive indications that the company has found the right way forward. This is borne out by stronger-than-expected results in three key areas of revenue, operating profit and membership growth.
Revenue for the quarter increased by 1.9% year-on-year to USD 7.85 billion, while operating margin rose by 7% year-on-year to USD$550 million. Importantly, global streaming paid memberships increased by 4% year-on-year, hitting 230.75 million.
Other bright spots include:
- Q4 content slate outperforming expectations, led by original content “Wednesday”, “Harry & Meghan”, “Troll” and “Knives Out: A Glass Onion Mystery”
- Promising reception to the launch of ad-supported, lower-priced membership tier
- For the year 2022, the company reported USD$31.6 billion of revenue, USD$5.6 billion in operating income, USD$2.0 billion of net cash from operating activities and USD$1.6 billion of free cash flow.
Netflix’s password-sharing crackdown shows promise [15]
With an estimated 100 million subscribers watching Netflix for free – thanks to password sharing – the streaming giant is losing substantial revenue.
However, efforts to reduce freeloading and claw back lost earnings is showing promise, with analysts expecting the crackdown to foster a boost in subscriber count.
In note to clients, Bank of America Securities stated, “The indication of much stronger-than-anticipated subscriber data in Canada is an encouraging sign that Netflix’s recent crackdown on password sharing is driving new subscribers to the service.”
It further added that, “Given the strong level of engagement on Netflix’s service, we believe they are particularly well-positioned to convert a significant percentage of lost subscribers.”
Netflix has rolled out its paid-sharing program in select international markets, including Canada, New Zealand, Spain and Portugal, with the U.S. soon to follow.
Bank of America added, “(Password-sharing crackdown is) an enormous long-term opportunity, with sizable upside realised in 2023/2024.”
Venturing into cloud gaming
While it continues to defend its home turf of video-on-demand, Netflix is making bets into cloud gaming. The company recently revealed that it is building a cloud gaming platform to deliver video gaming on demand across connected devices – including straight to subscribers’ TV screens [16].
In an innovative twist, Netflix is exploring the ability to play video games on your TV, using your iPhone as a controller [17].
While that is an exciting development, it bears reminding that game streaming is not exactly the easiest market to crack; notably Google had tried – and failed – to make headway, announcing the shutdown of its Stadia cloud gaming platform in early 2023 after approximately four years of development [18].
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References
- “About Netflix – Netflix,Inc” https://about.netflix.com/en Accessed 5 April 2023
- “How and When Did Netflix Start? A Brief History of the Company – Make Use Of” https://www.makeuseof.com/how-when-netflix-start-brief-company-history/ Accessed 5 April 2023
- “Netflix to Deliver Movies to the PC – The New York Times” https://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/16/technology/16netflix.html Accessed 5 April 2023
- “Giving Viewers What They Want – The New York Times” https://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/25/business/media/for-house-of-cards-using-big-data-to-guarantee-its-popularity.html Accessed 5 April 2023
- “Netflix Strategically Reveals Some of Its Most Popular Shows and Movies – Observer” https://observer.com/2019/10/netflix-most-popular-tv-shows-movies-ratings-stranger-things-oitnb/ Accessed 5 April 2023
- “Netflix Subscribers 2023 — How Many Users, Stats & Insights – DemandSage” https://www.demandsage.com/netflix-subscribers/ Accessed 5 April 2023
- “Netflix’s big bet on foreign content and international viewers could upend the global mediascape – and change how people see the world – The Conversation” https://theconversation.com/netflixs-big-bet-on-foreign-content-and-international-viewers-could-upend-the-global-mediascape-and-change-how-people-see-the-world-156629 Accessed 5 April 2023
- “Yes, Netflix Still Mails DVDs. Here’s Why You Should Care – CNET” https://www.cnet.com/tech/services-and-software/yes-netflix-still-mails-dvds-heres-why-you-should-care/ Accessed 5 April 2023
- “Netflix Inc – Google Finance” https://www.google.com/finance/quote/NFLX:NASDAQ?window=MAX Accessed 5 April 2023
- “Netflix Announces Initial Public Offering – Netflix Investors” https://ir.netflix.net/investor-news-and-events/financial-releases/press-release-details/2002/Netflix-Announces-Initial-Public-Offering/default.aspx Accessed 5 April 2023
- “Netflix – Stock Price History | NFLX – Macrotrends” https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/NFLX/netflix/stock-price-history Accessed 5 April 2023
- “Stock split history for Netflix (NFLX) – Companies Market Cap” https://companiesmarketcap.com/netflix/stock-splits/ Accessed 5 April 2023
- “Number of shares outstanding for Netflix (NFLX) – Companies Market Cap” https://companiesmarketcap.com/netflix/shares-outstanding/ Accessed 5 April 2023
- “Netflix 2022 Quarterly Earnings – Netflix Investors” https://ir.netflix.net/financials/quarterly-earnings/default.aspx Accessed 5 April 2023
- “Netflix Password-Sharing Crackdown Seen Driving Subscriber Boost – Investor’s Business Daily” https://www.investors.com/news/technology/netflix-stock-could-gain-from-password-sharing-crackdown/ Accessed 5 April 2023
- “Netflix Is All-In on Developing a New Cloud Gaming Platform. What Does It Mean for the Stock? – The Motley Fool” https://www.fool.com/investing/2023/03/27/netflix-is-all-in-on-developing-a-new-cloud-gaming/ Accessed 5 April 2023
- “Netflix might let you use an iPhone to control games on your TV – The Verge” https://www.theverge.com/2023/3/29/23662548/netflix-iphone-controller-games-code-test Accessed 5 April 202
- “Why Google Stadia Failed and Is Finally Shutting Down – Den of Geek” https://www.denofgeek.com/games/why-google-stadia-failed-shut-down-explained/ Accessed 5 April 2023
