Netflix‘s second quarter 2026 earnings result are unlikely to bring a smile back to shareholders’ faces. The streamer slightly eclipsed both internal and external profitability expectations, but missed the mark a bit in terms of revenue. Worse still, Netflix’s revenue forecast for the summer ($12.860 billion) shows a slower growth pace (+11.7 percent) than recent quarters.
The particulars: Netflix’s Q2 revenue was $12.56 billion and net income was $3.401 billion, which dilutes to 80 cents per share. Wall Street predicted Netflix earnings per share (EPS) of 79 cents on revenue of $12.58 billion. Back in April, Netflix estimated its Q2 revenue would come in at $12.574 billion. The internal estimates (at the time) had the June quarter’s net income at $3.327 billion, which would dilute to 78 cents per share.
Shares in Netflix had already been struggling. Shares in Netflix closed Thursday’s regular trading day at $74.35 per share — not bad for where it’s been. But after the Q2 numbers and shareholder letter crossed the wire, NFLX stock sunk as much as 9 percent (as of this writing), hitting not just a 52-week low, but a low dating back as far as September 2024.
Netflix is still licking its wounds from losing an agreed-upon Warner Bros. acquisition to Paramount. The $2.8 billion breakup fee Netflix received, covered by Paramount, probably helped soften that blow a bit. Interestingly enough, Paramount Skydance’s own acquisition plans for the entirety of Warner Bros. Discovery have just recently hit a snag — more than one, really. There is mounting opposition to the mega-merger among the creative community and politicians. Perhaps Netflix will consider re-entering the chat, or maybe co-CEOs Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters shift their M&A focus to NBCUniversal, soon to separate from Comcast.
Second quarter programming highlights included season two of Beef, Harlan Coben’s limited series I Will Find You, and docuseries Michael Jackson: The Verdict. The Boroughs from the Duffer Brothers (Stranger Things) performed well but was swiftly canceled anyway. On the kids side of things, Danny Go! and Salish and Jordan Matter’s new series regularly appeared on the global top 10 chart. In terms of Netflix original films, Apex and Jennifer Lopez’s Office Romance were pretty big, and the kids watched Swapped, mostly.
