Netflix’s earnings results for the second quarter of 2026 are unlikely to put a smile on shareholders’ faces.
The streaming company slightly beat internal and external profitability expectations, but missed the mark slightly on revenue. Even worse, Netflix’s revenue forecast for the summer ($12.860 billion) shows a slower pace of growth (+11.7 percent) than in recent quarters. The overall revenue forecast for 2026 has now been narrowed to $51.0-51.4 billion, trimming $300 million in both directions from $50.7-51.7 billion.
Details: Netflix’s second-quarter revenue was $12.56 billion, and net income was $3.401 billion, diluted to 80 cents per share. Wall Street expected Netflix’s earnings per share (EPS) to be 79 cents on revenue of $12.58 billion. Last April, Netflix estimated that second-quarter revenue would reach $12.574 billion. Internal estimates (at the time) put net income for the June quarter at $3.327 billion, which would dilute to 78 cents per share.
Shares in Netflix were already struggling, closing the regular trading day Thursday at $74.35 per share. But after beating the second-quarter numbers, NFLX stock is down as much as 9 percent (as of this writing), hitting not just a 52-week low, but the lowest level dating back to September 2024.
Netflix is still licking its wounds from losing its agreed-upon acquisition deal with Warner Bros. For Paramount. The $2.8 billion breakup fee Netflix received, which Paramount covered, likely helped soften that blow a bit. Interestingly enough, Paramount Skydance’s acquisition plans for the entirety of Warner Bros. Discovery has recently hit a snag — more than one, really. There is growing opposition to the mega-merger between the creative community and politicians. Maybe Netflix will consider re-entering the chat, or perhaps its co-CEOs, Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters, will shift their M&A focus to NBCUniversal, soon to split from Comcast.
Second quarter programming highlights included the second season of meatHarlan Coben Limited Series I will find youand documentary series Michael Jackson: Verdict. Biology From the Dover brothers (Strange things) performed well but was quickly canceled anyway. On the children’s side of things, Danny go! The new Salish and Jordan Matter series regularly appeared in the top 10 worldwide. For Netflix original movies, summit And Jennifer Lopez Office romance It was very big, and the kids saw it swapMostly.
