Morning NewsNetflix's underwhelming subscriber gains spark 'vigorous debate' about the future
Netflix (-7,5%) shares are skidding Wednesday after the company posted disappointing subscriber growth for the March quarter -- just 4 million net new subscribers, short of the company's projection of 6 million. Netflix shares have declined 12.2% over the past three months though they're up 17.3% over a 12-month span. The S&P 500 has risen 7.3% over three months and 51.6% over 12 months. Investors were eagerly awaiting Netflix's figures on its business performance in the first three months of 2021. In the first fiscal quarter, the streaming company earned 3.75 US dollars per share, after an EPS of 1.57 US dollars had been on the books in the same period of the previous year. This was more than analysts had anticipated; experts had previously expected earnings per share to be $2.97. Sales were also up year-on-year: Revenues climbed from $5.77 billion to $7.16 billion, after experts had previously seen revenues at $7.14 billion. After the boom at the beginning of the Corona crisis, which had brought Netflix record results last year, the rush of customers slowed down sharply.