Netflix Tops Fourth-Quarter Views as Streamer Adds Record Subscribers

Netflix’s (NFLX) fourth-quarter results exceeded estimates as the streaming giant reported a record addition of new subscribers. Revenue increased 16% year-over-year to $10.25 billion, topping the consensus on FactSet for $10.11 billion. Per-share earnings climbed to $4.27 from $2.11 a year earlier, higher than the Street’s $4.21 GAAP view. Netflix’s global paid net additions totaled 18.91 million in the fourth quarter, well above consensus of 10.18 million. The company a year earlier reported net additions of 13.12 million. Netflix’s shares were up 13% in after-hours trade. “Membership growth was driven by broad strength across our content slate, improved product/market fit across all regions and typical (fourth-quarter) seasonality,” the streaming service said in a letter to shareholders. The company said that growing advertising revenue will be a “top priority” in 2025. Having launched a first party ad tech platform in Canada late last year, Netflix plans to roll out a similar […]

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California Wildfires Won’t Cause ‘Meaningful Disruptions’ to Netflix

Netflix Co-Chief Executive Ted Sarandos says on a call with analysts that the wildfires in Southern California won’t cause any meaningful disruptions to the streaming giant’s Los Angeles-based productions or cash-content spending in 2025. He says the company’s goal is to keep productions on schedule, while aiding relief efforts and being mindful of those who need time to work through the challenges of the fires. “This industry has been through a really tough couple of years, starting with Covid, going into the strikes and now this,” he says. “So it’s really important that we try not to delay anything and try to make sure that these jobs stay safe.” Shares jump 14% on surging demand and sharp subscriber gains in 4Q.

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Netflix(NFLX.US) Q4 2024 Earnings Conference Summary

The following is a summary of the Netflix, Inc. (NFLX) Q4 2024 Earnings Call Transcript: Financial Performance: Netflix reported a strong end to 2024 with significant revenue contributions from both domestic and international markets, emphasizing a robust quarter without major financial setbacks due to operational disruptions. The price increases implemented have aligned smoothly with their market growth. Subscription growth excelled with 19 million additional subscribers in Q4, credited to a broad and diverse content library, not specifically dependent on live events or blockbuster titles. Operating margins improved as a result of strategic cost management, aligning selling, general, and administrative expenses with revenue growth and maintaining disciplined content spending, expected to rise from $17 billion in 2024 to around $18 billion in 2025. Business Progress: Netflix’s advertising plan has substantially increased its subscriber base, achieving rapid growth with 55% of sign-ups in Q4 coming from their new advertising model. Engagement with

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Trump to End EV ‘Mandate.’ What That Means for Tesla Stock.

President Donald Trump vowed to eliminate the electric vehicle mandate in his inaugural address. There is no mandate. His statement can mean a few things for Tesla and the U.S. auto industry. “We will end the Green New Deal and we will revoke the electric vehicle mandate, saving our auto industry and keeping my sacred pledge to our great American autoworkers,” said Trump in a speech from the Capitol. “You’ll be able to buy the car of your choice.” The “mandate” amounts to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rules requiring auto makers to sell all battery electric vehicles to avoid hefty emissions-related fines. Trump can relax EPA emissions standards in a rule-making process. That doesn’t end the “mandate” entirely. The California Air Resources Board, or CARB, regulates Californian emissions and several other states follow its standards. Trump could attempt to eliminate a federal waiver that allows California to pre-empt the EPA. If Trump

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United Airlines Stock Is on a Tear. Why Earnings Can Push It Even Higher.

United Airlines stock has soared in recent months and the carrier’s fourth-quarter earnings late Tuesday could send the shares flying even higher. Delta Air Lines set the tone for earnings season earlier this month with a big revenue and earnings beat. But it was Delta’s outlook that really buoyed investors as the carrier signaled strong demand continuing in 2025, guiding for revenue growth of 7-9% in the first quarter. On closer inspection, the reasons behind Delta’s positive guidance — robust demand for premium travel and improving corporate sales — are good news for United, which has strong exposure to both. United is the “biggest beneficiary” of Delta’s outlook, BofA analysts said in a note last week. They hiked earnings estimates as a result, and increased their price target on the Buy-rated stock to $120 from $100, implying 12% upside to Friday’s closing price. However, they also downgraded low-cost airlines JetBlue

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Schwab Stock Jumps on Earnings Beat As Brokerage Rakes in $115 Billion in New Assets

Charles Schwab reported fourth quarter profits that well exceeded Wall Street estimates early Tuesday. Revenues also beat estimates. Shares jumped 5.35% in premarket trading. The brokerage giant said adjusted earnings were $1.01 per share, beating analyst estimates of 91 cents, according to FactSet. That’s 49% higher than the fourth quarter of 2023. On an unadjusted basis, Schwab reported earnings of 94 cents per share. Schwab said revenue rose 20% year over year to $5.3 billion. That was above Wall Street revenue expectations of $5.2 billion. Schwab also showed robust growth, hauling in $115 billion in core net new assets for the fourth quarter and $367 billion for 2024. In 2023, it brought in $306 billion and had an annualized growth rate of 6%. In addition, the company showed progress on another front that has weighed on the stock: paying down short-term debt that it accumulated in 2023 and 2024 because

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2025 Set to Be a Big Year for AI, Meta’s Nicola Mendelsohn Says

2025 is going to be a big year for artificial intelligence, Meta Global Business’s Nicola Mendelsohn tells Bloomberg at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Meta’s ad revenue has seen a 25% increase thanks to AI. Advertisers want to focus on growth, which can be boosted by using Gen AI tools provided by the platform. While there is a greater sense of frustration in the U.S. compared to Europe over the complications of the regulatory environment, there is more optimism in the U.S., Mendelsohn says. The company’s switch to community-based fact checking is in alignment with Meta’s aim to provide free expression to its users, Mendelsohn adds.

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GM’s Stock Jumps as One Analyst Points to ‘Positive Surprises’ in Upgrade

Shares of General Motors Co. were driven higher in early Tuesday trading, after Deutsche Bank turned bullish on the automaker, citing the recent closing of its robotaxi business and its “aggressive” repurchase activity. “While there are concerns about the cycle and potential policies of the new Trump administration, our view is that these risks are already very well-known,” analyst Edison Yu wrote in a note to clients, adding that there was room for “positive surprises.” Read: How GM’s self-driving strategy is evolving as it gives up on Cruise business. Yu raised his rating on the GM’s stock (GM) to buy from hold. He raised his price target to $60 from $56, with the new target implying a roughly 16% upside from current levels. The stock climbed 1.6% in morning trading. “With GM stock having outperformed Ford significantly last year, we could envision 2025 being directionally similar,” Yu wrote. GM shares

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Nvidia Stock Has Started 2025 Slowly. Get Used to It.

Nvidia stock has had a slow start to 2025 after back-to-back years of triple-digit gains — and that could soon become the new normal. Shares have climbed 2.6% to $137.71 so far this year — meaning the chip maker is only just outperforming the S&P 500, which is up 2%. Last year, Nvidia soared 171%, while the benchmark index rose 23%. That doesn’t mean investors should worry. Nvidia still dominates the market for the graphics processing units required to power artificial-intelligence programs — so its profit should keep rising as long as tech companies keep dipping into their pockets to splash the cash on AI. But there’s a sense on Wall Street that another year of eye-popping returns looks unlikely. The 66 analysts who cover Nvidia have set an average price target of about $176, according to FactSet data, which implies shares can climb 28% from their level as of

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Forget Tesla and Nvidia Stocks. Check Out These Unloved AI Bargains.

Looking to invest in artificial intelligence stocks this year and worried you’ve missed the boat? Don’t worry, a pivot away from obvious winners like Tesla and Nvidia is the solution. That’s according to Morningstar’s chief U.S. market strategist David Sekera, who believes investors will have to take a more selective approach to the theme in 2025. His view is based on the idea that Big Tech companies’ capital expenditure levels can’t carry on rising at such a fast pace, more than two years after the launch of OpenAI’s ChatGPT kicked off an AI spending war. “We’re not going to see that explosive increase in demand of the past two years again,” Sekera told Barron’s. “It will still increase, but we won’t see anywhere near the same upside surprises in spending on AI hardware as this megatrend is better understood.” That means Morningstar is more bearish than most on Nvidia, which

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Apple Stock Takes a Hit After Downgrade. Why the iPhone Maker Will Struggle.

Shares of Apple, the most valuable company in the world, were slipping early Tuesday after analysts at Jefferies downgraded the stock. Forecasts for soft iPhone sales and a weaker update of new artificial intelligence features prompted strategists led by Edison Lee to lower their rating to Underperform from Hold. They also reduced their price target by 13% to $200.75. “Our concern about weak demand for iPhone has materialized,” they said in a note late Monday, citing a report saying shipments were down 4% in the quarter ended in December. “AI would be unlikely to kickstart a super upgrade cycle anytime soon.” Apple shares slipped 2.1% in premarket trading to $225.26, while futures for the Nasdaq 100 were up 0.4%. Apple stock has retreated 9.9% over the past month. It’s still the most valuable company, with a market capitalization of $3.46 trillion, as of Friday’s close. By comparison, chip maker Nvidia’s

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Nvidia Stock Rises After Trump Revokes AI Order. What It Means For Chip Makers.

Nvidia stock was rising alongside rival chip makers on the first trading day of Trump’s second presidency. In his first hours back in the Oval Office, the president revoked an order on artificial intelligence signed by his predecessor Joe Biden, in a potential sign of what’s to come for chip makers under Trump. Nvidia shares rose 0.4% to $138.32 in premarket trading while futures tracking the benchmark S&P 500 were up 0.3%. U.S. markets were closed on Monday for the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. Trump rescinded almost 80 executive orders signed by Biden on Monday, including one from October 2023 aimed at limiting AI risks, Barron’s reported. The order required AI developers that pose a risk to national security to share any results of safety tests with the government before they are disclosed to the public. It isn’t clear what, if any, practical impact the new administration’s backtrack on

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