:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/GettyImages-2152422341-7d0efb12eca04780b3764c6cd189d26f.jpg "What You Need To Know Ahead of Netflix Earnings")
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Key Takeaways
- Netflix is set to report third-quarter earnings after the bell Oct. 17, with analysts expecting revenue, profit, and subscriber figures to have grown from a year ago.
- Netflix will stop reporting subscriber data in 2025, as it says revenue and other financial metrics are better performance indicators.
- The streaming giant has an important fourth quarter coming up, as its push into live events continues with its first NFL games.
Netflix (NFLX) reports third-quarter earnings next Thursday, Oct. 17, and analysts expect the streaming giant to post year-over-year revenue, profit, and subscriber growth ahead of the final quarter of 2024.
Analysts polled by Visible Alpha project that Netflix will report net income of $2.23 billion on revenue of $9.77 billion, up 33% and 14%, respectively, from a year earlier. Shares have gained nearly 45% since the start of the year, but they dipped following the company’s quarterly reports in April and July.
| Analyst Estimates for Q3 2024 | Q2 2024 | Q3 2023 | |
| Revenue | $9.77 billion | $9.56 billion | $8.54 billion |
| Diluted EPS | $5.11 | $4.88 | $3.73 |
| Net Income | $2.23 billion | $2.15 billion | $1.68 billion |
Key Metric: Subscriber Growth
Analysts expect Netflix to report just under 286 million active subscribers at the end of the quarter, up about 4 million from last quarter and over 30 million more than last year, according to Visible Alpha. Netflix has said it will stop reporting subscriber data starting in 2025, and focus instead on financial metrics.
Analysts have said Netflix’s crackdown on password sharing has been successful in driving new subscribers. Barclays analysts, however, recently cited the “trade-offs” suggested by its pathways to future growth in downgrading the stock to “underweight” from “equal weight”—making them the only analysts tracked by Visible Alpha with a “sell”-equivalent rating—while leaving unchanged a price target of $550.
Business Spotlight: Upcoming Events
Netflix has an important fourth quarter, with KeyBanc analysts recently noting that the streamer’s first NFL games, which will be broadcast on Christmas Day, could be a catalyst for subscriber growth. The analysts, who raised their price target to $760 from $735, said nearly a quarter of people they surveyed who aren’t Netflix subscribers said the games would make them consider signing up.
The Christmas games are the latest bet on live sports from Netflix and other streamers as a way to draw new subscribers. Netflix is also set to become the official broadcaster of TKO Group’s (TKO) WWE professional wrestling events starting next year.