Netflix more than doubled its earnings in the first quarter, but its subscription rate is slowing

The entertainment platform Netflix announced a profit of 1706 million dollars (1417 million euros) between January and March, more than double that obtained in the same period last year, although it did not reach To the goal of exceeding 210 million subscribers.

In the first three months of its fiscal year, the Los Gatos (California, USA) -based company brought in $ 7,163 million, up from the $ 5,767 million recorded in March of last year, and its shareholders earned $ 3 85 each. A bill of $ 1.61. a year ago.

Despite the fact that Netflix has more than doubled its earnings compared to the same period last year, the company only added 3.98 million subscriptions, far from estimates of over 6 million subscribers.

In a letter to investors, the company linked the slow growth to the lack of new releases in its catalog, as the pandemic forced most of the filming to stop over the past year and postponed its release dates.

In addition, the platform predicted that in the second quarter of 2021, the number of registrations will barely exceed one million, which is well below the 4.8 that had been expected.

Last year, Netflix added 15.8 million subscribers from January to March, the highest growth the company has ever seen.

The absence of firsts and promotions has also kept investment in marketing at $ 512 million, similar to what was spent during the months of the strict blockade in 2020.

The company expected that “the delay in production due to the Covid-19 virus in 2020 will make the list of first offers more weight than the second half of 2021, with the return of a number of franchises.”

However, although it is still a leader in the streaming entertainment sector, Netflix will have to face other competitors that have consolidated during the quarter such as Disney +, owned by Walt Disney Company, which surpassed 100 million euros subscribers in March.

Netflix’s results did not convince investors on Wall Street and the company’s shares fell 10% to $ 495.50 per share in electronic trading after the New York parks shutdown.