Attentions are on Netflix Inc (NASDAQ:NFLX) ahead of Monday’s fourth quarter results, due after the close, and almost everyone will be watching to see how the streaming company’s subscribers have coped with October’s price hikes.
There will be two key issues for analysts. One will be latest measure of subscriber growth, while the other will be the cost of content.
Exclusive original content, funded internally by Netflix, has been central to the group’s disruption of both TV and movie industries. Nonetheless, it doesn’t come cheap. Netflix recently guided that it would be spending between US$7bn and US$8bn on content in 2018, up from a budget of around US$6bn last year.
Investors will be keen for some indication whether the capital intensive model continues to stand up as client acquisition slows and account retention (at increasing subscription fees) becomes increasingly important.
The market is expecting quarterly revenue to come in at US$3.28bn, which would represent a 32% improvement from the 2017 comparative and a 10% improvement from the preceding three month period.
Earnings per share, meanwhile, are anticipated at 41 cents for the quarter.
Netflix shares added 3.23% to US$227.58 each.