Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) Releases Earnings Results

Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) posted its earnings results on Tuesday. The Internet television network reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.01, Zacks reports. The business had revenue of $12.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.97 billion. Netflix had a net margin of 24.05% and a return on equity of 41.86%. The firm’s revenue was up 17.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.43 EPS. Netflix updated its Q1 2026 guidance to 0.760-0.760 EPS.

Here are the key takeaways from Netflix’s conference call:

• Netflix reiterated strong organic growth with 2026 guidance of $51 billion revenue (≈14% y/y) and expects ad revenue to roughly double again to about $3 billion, citing continued member growth and pricing as key drivers.
• The company is targeting a 31.5% operating margin for 2026 (≈ +2 points y/y), saying margin expansion is sustainable even as it increases investment in content, ads, live events, games and product, with ~0.5 points of drag from expected M&A costs.
• Netflix is pursuing the Warner Bros. deal as a strategic accelerant — emphasizing HBO, a theatrical distribution business with a 45‑day window, and a pro forma mix where ~85% of revenues align with Netflix’s core — and says regulatory filings are underway.
• Management highlighted improving engagement quality (an all‑time high quality metric), lower churn, record customer satisfaction, and expansion into live events, podcasts, vertical video and cloud TV gaming as levers to boost acquisition and retention.

Netflix Price Performance

Shares of Netflix stock traded down $1.87 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $85.39. 110,910,810 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 52,938,906. The company has a market capitalization of $361.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.67 and a beta of 1.71. The business has a fifty day moving average of $97.95 and a two-hundred day moving average of $112.22. Netflix has a 1 year low of $81.93 and a 1 year high of $134.12. The company has a quick ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Netflix news, Director Reed Hastings sold 426,290 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.67, for a total value of $39,078,004.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 3,940 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $361,179.80. This trade represents a 99.08% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Cletus R. Willems sold 2,380 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.03, for a total value of $261,878.54. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,653,599 shares of company stock worth $173,141,263. 1.37% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Netflix

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of NFLX. Sivia Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Netflix by 21.2% in the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,406 shares of the Internet television network’s stock valued at $1,883,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares in the last quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. grew its holdings in Netflix by 12.1% in the second quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 2,115 shares of the Internet television network’s stock valued at $2,832,000 after purchasing an additional 228 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in Netflix by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 5,390 shares of the Internet television network’s stock worth $4,804,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares during the last quarter. FFT Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Netflix during the second quarter worth approximately $234,000. Finally, Palisade Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Netflix in the 2nd quarter valued at $235,000. 80.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

More Netflix News

Here are the key news stories impacting Netflix this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 beat and subscriber growth — Netflix slightly beat EPS/revenue expectations and reported ~325M+ paid subscribers, showing the core streaming business is still growing. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Advertising momentum — Management highlighted accelerating ad revenue (management cited ~$1.5B+ in 2025), supporting an additional monetization path beyond subscriptions. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: All‑cash Warner Bros. bid — Netflix amended its Warner Bros. Discovery offer to an all‑cash structure (same headline price), which may speed approval but concentrates cash needs on Netflix. That reduces deal execution risk but raises financing focus. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Regulatory/competitive uncertainty — EU regulators are expected to review rival bids from Netflix and Paramount at the same time, adding an unusual regulatory variable to the deal timeline. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Disappointing near‑term guidance — Q1 EPS guidance (0.76) came in below some Street estimates, which prompted the initial sell‑off despite the beat on the quarter. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Buyback pause to fund Warner deal — Netflix paused its share-repurchase program to conserve cash for the Warner Bros. transaction, removing a direct shareholder-return mechanism and raising near-term capital allocation concerns. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Higher content spending and margin pressure — Netflix plans to raise program spending (~10% guide cited), which could compress margins in 2026 even if it supports long‑term growth. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Analysts trim targets and caution on the deal — Several firms cut price targets or lowered near‑term outlooks after the call as uncertainty around the Warner Bros. acquisition and guidance weighed on models. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Insider and investor selling / tactical trims — Notable insider sales and public selling (including some traders trimming positions) added to headline pressure and amplified the market move. Article Title • Article Title

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NFLX has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Netflix in a research note on Monday, December 29th. DZ Bank reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Netflix in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. TD Cowen cut their price target on Netflix from $115.00 to $112.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. President Capital upgraded Netflix from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $130.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Finally, Evercore ISI reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $138.00 target price on shares of Netflix in a report on Friday, December 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-three have assigned a Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $120.72.

About Netflix

Netflix, Inc (NASDAQ: NFLX) is a global entertainment company that provides subscription-based streaming of films, television series, documentaries and other video content. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph and headquartered in Los Gatos, California, the company began as a DVD-by-mail rental service and introduced streaming video in 2007. Netflix later expanded into producing and distributing original programming, beginning notable original hits in the 2010s, and now operates a content production and distribution ecosystem alongside its licensing activity.

The company’s primary product is its on-demand streaming service, which can be accessed on a wide range of internet-connected devices and delivered through a suite of apps and web platforms.