Streaming giant Netflix has released its financial statements for the second quarter of 2022, revealing another loss of subscribers.
The company lost just shy of one million subscribers, according to its financial statements, continuing the decline from the previous quarter. Netflix now has around 220 million paying customers.
The drop is less than the predicted 2 million lost subscribers for the quarter.
In addition, the company said that it experienced 8.6% revenue growth year on year, bringing in $7.97 billion for the quarter.
“Our challenge and opportunity is to accelerate our revenue and membership growth by continuing to improve our product, content, and marketing as we’ve done for the last 25 years, and to better monetize our big audience,” the company said in its letter to shareholders.
To a certain extent, Netflix had its numbers buoyed in the second quarter by the release of the new season of its flagship series Stranger Things. Season 4 accumulated 1.3 billion hours viewed within its first four weeks of release, the company’s biggest English language season of TV, and second most after Squid Game.
Netflix’s woes began in April this year after its first quarter report revealed that it had lost 200,000 subscribers, its first net loss in a decade. It was in that report that the company warned that the latest drop in subscribers was coming.
Since then, the company has undertaken several measures to increase revenues and lower costs, keeping its margins at around 20%. Chief among these were several rounds of layoffs. Its latest margin was at 19.8%, after staying above 20% in three of the last four quarters.
The first round saw 150 staff laid-off, approximately 2% of the company’s North American staff. They were soon followed by another 300 staff, almost 3% of the company’s 11,000 total employees.
Among plans to increase revenues are introducing a cheaper, advert-supported package and cracking down on password-sharing – though a trial has seen mixed results.
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So far, markets have not reacted negatively to the news. The previous loss of subscribers knocked $120 off the cost of the company’s share price, dragging it from around $350 to $220. Since then, they have consistently held around $150-200, with the company currently at its highest price in over a month.
The question is, where is Netflix going from here. The company’s third quarter predictions show it reversing the downfall in subscribers, adding another million in the next three months. However, it also warned that there will be a slight decline in its revenues and net income, while its operating margins will slip to 16%.
Just as Netflix’s problems are based on the rising cost of living, its performance is not immune to larger economic woes. The appreciating dollar is eating into its revenues, as around 60% of its revenue comes from outside the US, while its expenses are largely paid in dollars.
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