Depressing Movies: Netflix Cuts Q4 Outlook; Shares Down
This story was written by Rafat Ali.
So maybe people aren't watching that many movies during these depressing times, or at least not joining a new service in droves: Netflix (NSDQ: NFLX) has cut its Q4 subscriber outlook, and also said that Q3 ended with fewer subscribers than it anticipated. CFO Barry McCarthy said that net subscriber growth in July was "in line with expectations but August was unusually weak...In September, the business regained momentum with results slightly below original expectations, likely due to the economic climate."
Netflix ended Q3 with about 8.672 million subscribers, just below the low end of its previous guidance of 8.675 million to 8.875 million subscribers. Subscribers grew 23 percent year-over-year and 3 percent sequentially. For Q408, it expects subscribers between 8.95 million to 9.25 million, down from 9.1 million to 9.7 million. Revenues are expected between $353 million and $359 million for the quarter, down from its earlier projection of $357 million to $367 million.
It shares fell more than 12 percent this morning after the outlook forecast. More details in release.
By Rafat Ali