By Harshita Mary Varghese
July 17 (Reuters) – Netflix shares sank more than 10% on Friday after the company forecast another quarter of slower revenue gains and scaled back viewership data, fueling fears that its industry-beating growth may have peaked.
The stock was close to a two-year low in early trading, with the decline set to wipe out $35 billion from Netflix’s market value of about $313 billion, if losses hold.
In its latest disclosure pullback, the streaming giant cut the frequency of its viewing-hours report to once a year from twice starting 2027, following last year’s scrapping of subscriber counts, leaving investors in the dark as the business faces greater competition from traditional media as well as YouTube.
“Whenever you take away a data point from investors when results aren’t as good as they have been you will get punished by the market,” said Ben Barringer, head of technology research at Quilter Cheviot.
Netflix’s failed pursuit of Warner Bros earlier this year has also raised doubts about its next phase of growth amid slow adoption of an ad-supported streaming tier that the company has long touted as a big growth driver.
The stock has lost 44% since hitting an all-time high in June 2025, including an over 20% fall just this year.
After a strong content slate in 2025 that included the final season of its hit sci-fi series “Stranger Things” and South Korean drama “Squid Games”, analysts said the company also has a weaker content line-up this year that could weigh on growth.
“Pulling back engagement reporting at the exact moment engagement is in the spotlight gives off a strong ‘nothing to see here’ vibe,” said Forrester research director Mike Proulx.
Keeping subscribers hooked is crucial for Netflix as it has long traded at a premium to other media companies that command a smaller streaming subscriber base and are grappling with the ongoing declines in cable TV.
Netflix trades at nearly 20 times expected earnings over the next 12 months, compared with 13.5 times for Walt Disney and 6.6 times for Comcast, underscoring the premium investors place on the streaming giant.
Still, at least 18 analysts cut their price targets after Netflix forecast quarterly revenue and earnings below Wall Street expectations. The median target, however, remains about 40% above Thursday’s closing price.
(Reporting by Harshita Mary Varghese and Joel Jose in Bengaluru; Editing by Janane Venkatraman and Devika Syamnath)
