netflixThe founder of and its chief executive for 25 years, Reed Hastings, is stepping down from his role as co-CEO to become executive chairman instead. Current co-CEO Ted Sarandos will continue to lead the streaming giant, and he will be joined by new co-CEO Greg Peters, who served as Netflix’s chief operating officer for three years and chief product officer for six.
The succession was announced on Thursday as Netflix reported better-than-expected growth in the fourth quarter, to end a turbulent year that previously included the company’s first subscriber losses in a decade.
netflix, the world’s leading video streaming subscription service, said membership grew by 7.66 million to 230.75 million in total between October and December. it beats netflixThe October councils add 4.5 million new members. It also beat average analyst expectations, which were slightly more optimistic at 4.57 million new members, according to Refinitiv.
The shares rose 6.1% percent to $335.01 in recent after-hours trading. Through the close, the stock has lost more than a third of its value over the past 12 months as Netflix’s membership growth drama and concerns about the broader economy have made investors anxious.
In a separate space post on his decision to step down as leaderHastings wrote that he had already delegated management to Sarandos and Peters for more than two years.
“It was a baptism of fire, considering COVID and recent challenges within our business,” Hastings said. “But they’ve both done incredibly well, ensuring Netflix continues to improve and develop a clear path to re-accelerate our revenue and profit growth. The board and I therefore feel that this is the right time to complete my succession.”
Prior to this year, Netflix’s relentless subscriber growth prompted nearly every major Hollywood media company to embrace streaming as the future of television. As they poured billions into their own streaming operations, the so-called streaming wars caused a wave of new services, including Apple TV Plus, Disney+, HBO Max, Peacock and Paramount More.
The flood of streaming options complicates the number of services you have to use (and, often, pay for) to watch your favorite shows and movies online. But it has also increased competition from Netflix, intensifying the company’s battle to win new members and retain the ones it has. The pressure has pushed Netflix to pursue strategies it had rejected or avoided for years: The company launched cheaper, ad-supported subscriptions in November, and it will expand the crackdown on password sharing to more this year. countries than the few Latin American markets where it is already testing account sharing fees.
On Thursday, Netflix said password fees would start rolling out more widely later in the first quarter.
He also said that members of his new ad-supported plan watched more than the company expected, with their engagement matching that of ad-free members. “Also, as expected, we’ve seen very little change from other plans,” Netflix said – meaning it doesn’t think people are switching much to the cheaper, ad-supported tier. from a more expensive tier and without ads.
As part of the executive shuffle, Netflix’s Bela Bajaria, formerly head of global television, has become chief content officer, a title Sarandos previously held. Scott Stuber has been named president of Netflix film.
In the fourth quarter, Netflix added 910,000 streaming customers in the United States and Canada for a total of 74.3 million. In Europe, the Middle East and Africa, membership grew by 3.2 million to 76.73 million. In Latin America, the number of subscribers increased by 1.76 million to reach 41.7 million. And in the Asia-Pacific region, 1.8 million new members expanded its base to 38.02 million.
Overall, Netflix posted earnings of $55.3 million, or 12 cents per share, compared with $607.4 million, or $1.33 per share, a year earlier. Revenue rose 1.9% to $7.852 billion.
Analysts had expected earnings to be an upside surprise, predicting earnings per share of 45 cents versus Netflix’s forecast of 36 cents. Consensus revenue estimate was $7.848 billion
