I have two religions: customer satisfaction and operating income. Everything else is a tactic.
Reid Hastings, Netflix co-founder
Netflix has been on a real journey over the past few years. The streaming giant’s share price is about 1% higher than where it started 2020. But in these last few Covid-affected years it has been an absolute rollercoaster. Up more than 100%, then down more than 70% and then up 80% to end up right where it started.
This article is a deep dive on Netflix the business. The streaming giant is facing more and more competition just as consumers are starting to reduce their number of streaming services subscriptions.
One thing Netflix has going for it, unlike many of its other competitors, is that it is turning a profit on streaming. As this article explains, “In 2022 Netflix turned an operating income profit of ~$5.6B, Disney, Warner Bros, Peacock, and Paramount together lost a total of ~ $14B.”
The challenge for Netflix is that many of its biggest competitors are not just streamers. Amazon has a web services and retail business, Disney has parks and traditional entertainment, Apple is, well, Apple. For Netflix to continue to lead the streaming industry is has to find a way to continue outcompeting their deep pocketed rivals.
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