Consumer Discretionary

Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) today announced it will post its third quarter 2023 financial results and business outlook on its investor relations website at on Wednesday, October 18, 2023, at approximately 1:00 p.m. Pacific Time. A video interview with co-CEOs Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters, Chief Financial Officer Spence Neumann and VP, Finance/IR & Corporate Development Spencer Wang will be available at 3:00 p.m. Pacific Time. The discussion will be moderated by Jessica Reif Ehrlich, BofA Securities, with questions submitted via email.

Netflix is favorably positioned to keep delivering scripted programming in the face of the prolonged actor and writer strikes thanks to its international production and already produced domestic content, Benchmark analyst Matthew Harrigan says in a research note. A resolution to the strikes could actually weigh on Netflix–all studios and streamers will be affected by the revised higher compensation for actors and writers tied to streaming, and Netflix could see an outsized impact given it is the prime mover for the absence of residuals in streaming compared with traditional TV, the analyst says.

The catalyst? A word of caution from the company’s CFO, Spencer Neumann, delivered at a Bank of America Conference. Netflix shares plummeted, diving by over 5% during the afternoon trading, and shaping up to become the third-worst session endured by the streaming giant in 2023. Neumann’s revelation about the company’s expected profit margins was at the center of the storm. He offered a subdued forecast for operating margins, pegging them in the range of 18% to 20%, a far cry from the prevailing consensus, which stood firm at 22.1%. In an attempt to cushion the blow, he also stressed that Netflix is “nowhere near” its peak margins.

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