Netflix tops Wall Street forecasts with password limits, ad option

By Lisa Richwine

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Netflix Inc (NASDAQ:) handily beat Wall Street earnings forecasts on Wednesday as a password-sharing crackdown and an ad-suported option helped bring in 5.9 million new streaming subscribers in the just-ended quarter.

Revenue came in slightly below analyst predictions for April through June, as did Netflix’s projection for third-quarter revenue. The company said it expected revenue growth to accelerate in the second half of the year.

“While we’ve made steady progress this year, we have more work to do to reaccelerate our growth,” the company said in its quarterly letter to shareholders.

Netflix reported diluted earnings-per-share of $3.29 for the second quarter, ahead of the $2.86 consensus forecast of analysts surveyed by Refinitiv.

Its nearly 6 million subscriber additions outpaced the 1.9 million that Wall Street expected.

Netflix has been looking for new ways to make money as streaming competition intensifies and it nears market saturation in the United States. The company launched a cheaper tier with advertising last November, and started asking password borrowers to pay in a widespread crackdown that rolled out in May.

Quarterly revenue climbed 2.7% from a year earlier to $8.2 billion, shy of analyst forecasts of $8.3 billion. The company estimated third-quarter revenue would hit $8.5 billion. Wall Street had been forecasting $8.7 billion.

Net income for the second quarter topped estimates at $1.5 billion.

The company, like its competitors, is grappling with strikes by tens of thousands of Hollywood actors and writers. The labor action has forced many film and television productions to shut down, though analysts say Netflix has an advantage because of its global production.