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Netflix Is Now Worth More Than $100 Billion (techcrunch.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the big-milestones dept.

Netflix has crossed the $100 billion mark for its market cap as it once again surprised industry observers with better-than-expected growth in its subscribers. TechCrunch reports: The company said it added more than 8 million new subscribers total after already setting pretty robust targets for the fourth quarter this year, giving it a healthy push as it crossed the $100 billion mark after the report came out this afternoon. While the company's core financials actually came in roughly in line with what Wall Street was looking for (which is still important), Netflix's subscriber numbers are usually the best indicator for the core health of the company. That recurring revenue stream -- and its growth -- is critical as it continues to very aggressively spend on new content. The company said its free cash flow will be between negative $3 billion and negative $4 billion, compared to negative $2 billion this year. And that aggressive spending only seems to get more aggressive every time we hear from the company. Netflix is now saying that it expects to spend between $7.5 billion and $8 billion on content in 2018 -- which is around in line with what it said in October when it said it would spend between $7 billion and $8 billion. It's the same range, but tuning up that bottom end is still an important indicator. Some notable numbers include $3.29 billion in revenue, 1.98 million Q4 U.S. subscriber additions, and 6.36 million Q4 International subscriber additions.

49 comments

  1. Strategy by hcs_$reboot · · Score: 1

    "Netflix's subscriber numbers are usually the best indicator for the core health of the company", indeed. I left Netflix after being a subscriber for some years, and just a month later, got a month free offer (again). Looks like Netflix tries whatever they can to reach the higher number, even for free.

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    1. Re:Strategy by Maritz · · Score: 1

      Even for free, for a month.

      --
      I do not want your cheap brainburning drugs. They are useless for work. And I am a working man today.
    2. Re:Strategy by hcs_$reboot · · Score: 2

      That's the thing. Free => cancel => wait => free

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      Slashdot, fix the reply notifications... You won't get away with it...
  2. Ahah! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Worth nothing to ME!

  3. Bubble nonsense. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Just stop and think for a moment: That's 1x10^11 dollar. OK. There are roughly 7.6x10^9 humans out there at the moment.

    A simple division yields about 7.6 dollars per human. And that's just Netflix. Then there's The Goog, Hipster Apple, Tesla X and all the others.

    To me that all doesn't make much sense, save for some kind of absurd global casino on the verge of implosion.

    Last time 'round the states agreed on making a more moderate use of their money printing presses, because experience showed there to be some... downsides; now global finance is printing fake money like there's no tomorrow.

    Hmmm.

    1. Re:Bubble nonsense. by NoNonAlphaCharsHere · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Indeed. Unsustainable growth is the only thing Wall Street analysts respect. What happens to the Netflix stock price (market cap) when new subscriptions (inevitably) plateau?

    2. Re:Bubble nonsense. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yeah, that's it. And I wouldn't have any qualms with that, since taking risk and gambling *is* in many capitalist's nature, but then, when things (inevitably!) go boom, they behave like five-years-olds who can't grasp that they have just *lost* this round of pitchnut and rather throw a hissy fit and blackmail their parents into redefining reality.

      Worked out beautifully last time 'round :-(

      Then they walk around and brag: "We don't need no inefficient state".

    3. Re:Bubble nonsense. by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      It will plummet. And the next big thing will be worth 100 billion.

      C'mon, have you been playing this game since yesterday?

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  4. Pretend Internet Money by pacija · · Score: 0

    In almost twenty years old news, but relevant nevertheless, blairwitchproject.com is expected to acquire General Motors.

  5. Lack of Disney content will kill it. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Disney owns so many franchises now that a Netflix without Disney will kill it. Netflix should consider legal action if Disney tries to take it's content away from paying customers.

    1. Re:Lack of Disney content will kill it. by Drethon · · Score: 1

      For me, lack of Disney content will kill my viewing of Disney products. Eventually I may give up on Netflix but when that happens, I wont be changing to any other providers, unless their combined cost is less than Netflix.

    2. Re:Lack of Disney content will kill it. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Also netflix is spending in original content.

      They have more than a year still to go before disney removes it's content.

      I personally like netflix original content a lot...Not all of it but most of it.

      I like Hollywood(with which I also mean disney and pixar) content less and less...

    3. Re:Lack of Disney content will kill it. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Maybe but my personal take is: fuck Disney and their corporate strongarm tactics. Netflix has plenty of good shows and original content for me to watch.

    4. Re:Lack of Disney content will kill it. by coofercat · · Score: 1

      Like Amazon, Netfix is more or less betting the house on original content. They've both figured out that whilst offering house-hold named content is a good way to pull in customers, the licensing and legal shenanigans make it a difficult game to be in long term. Instead, make sure you've got enough original content to keep people 'filled up'.

      Amazon can even charge per-view or whatever, and even still, they want original content. Tells you something about the media industry, doesn't it?

      As for Disney, they can go fuck themselves - there's already almost no Disney on UK Netfix, so if they pull the last of it off there it'll be no great loss. We've got a few of their films on DVD, but it's not like we have to say "yes" every time one of the kids asks to watch something we don't have, and we can wait for anything new they come up with - it's not that life changing that we need it right-bloody-now, and they don't have enough that we'd actually watch to want any sort of direct subscription to the Disney streaming service or whatever fuckup they're planning.

    5. Re:Lack of Disney content will kill it. by EndlessNameless · · Score: 1

      Disney owns so many franchises now that a Netflix without Disney will kill it.

      Not really. Netflix's original content ranges from decent to excellent.

      They could probably coexist with Disney and a few other streaming content producers. E.g., Netflix + HBO Go + a hypothetical Disney service would total up to less than the average cable bill---unless Disney tries to charge way more than everyone else. That is already more content than most people need. Plus, there is still broadcast TV for news, some sports, and other local content.

      Netflix doesn't need to be everything to everyone; it only needs to justify its ~$10/month price tag. More streaming services may actually help, insofar as they encourage cord-cutting, and many cord-cutters will pick up Netflix plus one or two other services.

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      According to the latest ruleset, this post should be modded as Vorpal Flamebait +5.
    6. Re:Lack of Disney content will kill it. by AvitarX · · Score: 1

      A lot of their original content is Disney though.

      At least 6 of their series are marvel. And they all seem to do pretty well based on my Facebook feed when they are released.

      --
      Wow, sent an e-mail as suggested when clicking on "use classic" banner, and got a fast response that addressed my msg
    7. Re:Lack of Disney content will kill it. by Lord+Kano · · Score: 1

      HBO made and is still making mountains of cash with original content.

      I remained a subscriber for as long as I did just to see the end of True Blood. I know there are a lot of people who are still subscribing to see the end of GoT.

      Disney leaving Netflix is a huge gamble but mostly for Disney.

      Netflix has the paying subscribers. Netflix has the broad support of media streaming device and Smart TV makers.

      It would be like P&G pulling all of their products from Walmart and launching their own competing chain of retail outlets.

      They *might* be big enough to make it work but it's dumb to try.

      LK

      --
      "Hi. This is my friend, Jack Shit, and you don't know him." - Lord Kano
    8. Re:Lack of Disney content will kill it. by h4ck7h3p14n37 · · Score: 1

      Like Amazon, Netfix is more or less betting the house on original content. They've both figured out that whilst offering house-hold named content is a good way to pull in customers, the licensing and legal shenanigans make it a difficult game to be in long term. Instead, make sure you've got enough original content to keep people 'filled up'.

      This original content strategy is the reason that I'm cancelling my Netflix subscription after 9 or so years. I typically used Netflix for television shows, but it got to the point where I had either seen all of the old content I was interested in, or Netflix had lost the rights to the shows I still wanted to watch. I used to watch movies, but their offering just got worse and worse; for the last few years anything I would search for would not be available to watch.

      A lot of shows have moved to Hulu. Family Guy, South Park, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Dr. Who, Rick and Morty? All are on Hulu and not Netflix. Thankfully Hulu finally got a clue and offered ad-free subscriptions and new episodes appear weekly instead of after the end of a season like on Netflix. Now I have a handful of new episodes to watch each week versus binge watching a season in three days and then having to wait another year for more.

      As for the original content? I'm just not interested in what I've seen so far. Stranger Things was okay, but season two went out with a whimper and it's just not a show I would watch over and over like a Seinfeld, Trailer Park Boys or It's Always Sunny.

    9. Re:Lack of Disney content will kill it. by MitchDev · · Score: 1

      This. I do have a young daughter, but she's not a big fan of anything Disney has released in years, and Grandma will get her the DVDs of movies she wants. Disney streaming won't get squat from us...

    10. Re:Lack of Disney content will kill it. by MitchDev · · Score: 1

      " I know there are a lot of people who are still subscribing to see the end of GoT."

      Be interesting to see how may others drop HBO until around the premier of the 8th and last season of GoT and how many stick around after that...

    11. Re:Lack of Disney content will kill it. by sad_ · · Score: 1

      Have you seen the Netflix Original productions? Most of them are awesome and of high quality. Not only limited to series, but their movies are also pretty good.
      I don't think i'll be missing disney soon...

      --
      On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero.
  6. Sure it is. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    What a hollow marketplace we have.

    100 billion. just moving videos to people.

    what the pirates do for free. which is illegal.

    What a joke.

    1. Re:Sure it is. by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      Holy ... can you imagine what TPB would be worth if you could just monetize that shit?

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  7. With all those billions . . . by PolygamousRanchKid+ · · Score: 3, Funny

    You would think they could spare a billion or two to buy us all a healthy portion of Net Neutrality.

    Maybe hire a few hit men, to take out whoever is really behind the repeal of Net Neutrality. But . . . do we even have an idea who that is . . . ?

    --
    Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!
    1. Re:With all those billions . . . by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      With that amount of money you can hire someone with a Gatling gun and just keep firing. It's not like any innocent collateral damage is to be expected.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    2. Re:With all those billions . . . by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They don't want Net Neutrality. Why does no body understand this?

      They want to stream to their customers at full speed un-throttled by ISPs. For that they must have a fast lane for their content and to have a fast lane they need to ditch the whole net neutrality concept. This is why the 'big' players don't give a crap about net neutrality. They want guaranteed delivery quality and they're willing to pay for it. Before they couldn't because of NN regulations. Now they can. This was the intent from the very beginning.

    3. Re:With all those billions . . . by friedmud · · Score: 1

      It's actually even more insidious than that.

      Like you say: Netflix has plenty of clout and money to buy fast lanes (or make deals for them).

      In _addition_... the inability for a new upstart streaming service to be able to procure the same deals (because it is small) means that Netflix can effectively shutout upcoming competition.

      THAT is what net neutrality is really about. About creating a level playing field for anyone who wants to start a new service. Without it all of the big players can collude to lock everyone in again (just like we have been with Cable/NBC/CBS/Disney/Etc.).

      Netflix _used_ to be the "plucky upstart"... but it is very much a media juggxrnaught these days!

  8. Re:Strategy NETFLIX AND GNAA CHILL by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    classic

  9. Bailouts by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The problem is not the plummeting. The problem is the subsequent siphoning of public money towards the stupid investors.

    1. Re: Bailouts by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's only a problem for you, the peons. For the execs, that's business as usual

  10. Didn't BitCoin teach anything? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The market cap is not the company's worth.
    It is only an indication of what the last shmuck paid for the stock.
    For it to be the worth, there would have to be enough like minded to buy the whole thing.

    To me, the price seems more an indication of it being one of the next big things than current value.
    Kind of like BC, but not to the same extreme.

    It is trading at a PE of near 100.
    The book value is it's CDN, it's own content, it's leased content contracts, and it's customer base.
    The last 2 of those could change in a heartbeat if a better option comes along.

    OTOH, it is a real, growing business in a current, relevant, if fickle field.

    1. Re:Didn't BitCoin teach anything? by bobbied · · Score: 1

      P/E ratios above 30 means... Sell Short! Wait for the correction then cover for profit.

      Unless somebody expects Netflix to turn 2x the profit they are now, any company trading at 100 P/E is a really big balloon ready to pop. It might be worthy of some speculation money if the company is coming off some really bad news and trades at such prices, but I don't think this fits Netflix.

      --
      "File to fit, pound to insert, paint to match" - Aircraft Maintenance 101
  11. Worth by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Netflix the stock has a market cap of $100B. The company is worth about $10B with negative free cash flow.

    Perception is worth more than reality it seems.

    1. Re:Worth by bobbied · · Score: 1

      Perception is worth more than reality it seems.

      It ALWAYS is. The trick is to learn to profit from perceptions which are wrong.

      --
      "File to fit, pound to insert, paint to match" - Aircraft Maintenance 101
  12. Billions of Dollars... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ...and nothing worth streaming.

    But hey, subscribe to the DVD plan!

    I just get a free month when Bojack comes out; binge; cancel; repeat.

    NetFlix is but a sad outer casing of its true potential.

  13. So? by MerlTurkin · · Score: 0

    I dumped Netflix, kept Hulu. I like Hulu far better.

    1. Re:So? by pnutjam · · Score: 1

      You love commercials too?

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      Cheap storage VM.
    2. Re:So? by h4ck7h3p14n37 · · Score: 1

      Hulu now offers ad-free subscriptions. I renewed my subscription once that happened and cancelled Netflix since a lot of the shows I watched have moved to Hulu.

    3. Re:So? by pnutjam · · Score: 1

      Thanks, I thought they only offered "minimal" commercials.

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      Cheap storage VM.
  14. 80% by sycodon · · Score: 1

    About 80% of the stuff on Netflix, Prime, etc are grade B knockoffs of block buster movies or just crap no one would find interesting.

    When he description starts out with, "not to be confused with the blockbuster..." you know they are simply trying to pull a bait and switch.

    "Oh Look!, they are showing Independence Day of Earth! I loved that movie."

    --
    When Fascism comes to America, it will call itself Anti-Fascism, and tell you to give up your guns.
    1. Re:80% by Rakarra · · Score: 1

      My favorite is Video Brinquedo. They release knockoffs of animated films the year that the original movie comes up.
      When Disney released Princess and the Frog, they released The Frog Prince.
      When Pixar released Cars, they released The Little Cars. Ratatoing followed Ratatouille, and What's Up? Balloon to the Rescue followed the balloon-based Up.
      The Little Panda Fighter followed Kung-Fu Panda, etcetc.

      Though studio The Asylum gets props for being ballsy enough to release Snakes on a Train when Snakes on a Plane came out.

    2. Re:80% by GNious · · Score: 1

      eh ? I've literally never seen that on Netflix.

    3. Re: 80% by brunes69 · · Score: 1

      Most people don't watch movies on Netflix anymore. They watch the original content. Everyone I know who has Netflix, does so for the original content.

  15. Funny.. I just dropped All Netflix subscriptions by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The Amazon price hike finally caused me to drop all netFlix "screens" I'm a cord cutter from way back, and finally a cord nothing.. I just never watch NetFlix unless its to binge watch one short season of the one show.. that barely happens pique my interest.

    Thye've just gone off the rails and create content for some rich people I don't know.

    I guess they're just trading the upper 1% of 1% 's money now.. and 99% of the rest of us doens't need that form of entertainment anymore.

  16. Dollar collapse continues by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Netflix is for wastemen

  17. Netflix is worth as much as Ethereum by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    At $100, Netflix is now worth as much as Ethereum. Is Netflix overvalued here? Haha.

  18. Market cap is not "worth" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I'm in the financial industry. 99% of Wall Street and the financial press is sensational trash.

    Market cap is shares outstanding * current trade price. It is the market's current subjective trade value. It is NOT a reflection of the fundamentals of the company: revenue, gross profit, etc., let alone NET profit or shareholder's equity.

    But because of sansational reporting, many people will rush out to "buy Netflix." These are the same people (mostly Millennials) who think they're Warren Buffet because they are buying Tesla, Apple, Google, or other popular stocks. Most of them are going to lose.

  19. I've enjoyed a few things on Netflix immensely by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    See subject: "Black Mirror" being THE 'prime example thereof' by FAR (especially season 3 episode 1 "Nosedive" which I felt so SORRY for Lacie Pound the main character & I most related to the truck driver "U SCHLEP" who picked her up as I feel in a real way I've BEEN BOTH in my time on this earth - haven't we all?).

    Nosedive's scary - why? It WILL & does happen in 'the real world' & for certain in a real sense online for sure + IF the Chinese & the globalists make their "world social score" a reality (easily cheated as it is already online via sockpuppetry & bots))? It will ruin live...

    The latest releases of "The U.S.S. Callister" was another (probably will appeal to the 'trekkie geeks' here who are also CODERS, lol).

    In films, recently I caught "The Giver" (excellent) starring Jeff Bridges & Meryl Streep (makes a hell of a social commentary too) as well as "CLOUD ATLAS" w/ Tom Hanks & Hallie Berry also.

    APK

    P.S.=> What I find is the most impressive of all, social commentary-wise, is BLACK MIRROR (almost a warning sign of things we're heading into & what their downsides can be) - it's a FAR MORE INTENSE & scathing version of the classic "Twilight Zone" imo... apk