According to industry reports, Netflix is expected to announce its slowest subscriber growth in six quarters as the impact of cracking down on password sharing diminishes. Despite this, the streaming giant is seeing success with original content like “The Accident” and “The Perfect Couple,” among the most-watched titles in the U.S. during the quarter.
As subscriber growth slows, Netflix is looking to shift focus to other performance metrics, such as revenue growth and margins, and has announced that it will stop reporting subscriber data from 2025.
While the company’s ad-supported plan is growing, it’s not expected to be a significant growth driver until 2026. This has raised concerns about Netflix’s future growth. To address this, some analysts suggest that the company should consider raising prices and phasing out more ad-free plans to encourage customers to opt for the ad-supported tier, which typically generates more revenue per user.
In the U.S., Netflix’s ad-supported tier is priced at US$6.99 per month, while its standard plan without commercials is priced at US$15.49 monthly. The company hasn’t raised the price of its standard plan since early 2022, while its ad-supported tier has maintained the same price since its launch in late 2022. In the third quarter, Netflix is expected to report ad revenue of US$242.7 million, with overall revenue expected to grow by 14.3% to US$9.76 billion.
To attract more advertisers, Netflix focuses on live events, including sports. It will air the highly anticipated Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson boxing fight in November, followed by its first NFL games in December.
Additionally, the upcoming release of the second season of the popular South Korean drama series “Squid Game” in December could help draw in more subscribers in the last quarter of the year.
Netflix’s stock has risen by 12%.
