Netflix is set to lose $17 billion off its market cap after suffering a rare decline in US subscribers
- Shares in Netflix tanked by 11% in pre-market trading on Thursday after it reported its first decline in US subscribers since 2011.
- The company's US paid-subscriber base shrunk by 130,000, badly missing conservative estimates of 309,240 domestic additions.
- Netflix gained 2.7 million worldwide subscribers in the second quarter, well below its forecast of 5 million additions.
- Subscriber growth in international markets has become an increasingly important metric for the company.
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Netflix stock plunged 11% in pre-market trading on Thursday after the tech giant reported its first decline in US subscribers since 2011.
The company's US paid-subscriber base shrunk by 130,000 in the second quarter, badly missing Wall Street's expectations of 309,240 additions. Its worldwide subscriber count increased by 2.7 million, falling short of its 5 million estimate. Netflix added 5.5 million subscribers during the same period last year, and expects to sign up 7 million subscribers in the third quarter of 2019.
"Our missed forecast was across all regions, but slightly more so in regions with price increases," the company wrote in a letter to shareholders. "We think Q2's content slate drove less growth in paid net adds than we anticipated."
Netflix's recent offerings include the third season of "Stranger Things," which has garnered over 40 million views, the company said.
The company reported earnings per share of $0.60 beating expectations of $0.56. Revenue also grew to $4.92 billion, falling just short of the $4.93 billion target from Wall Street.
Netflix shares were up more than 35% year-to-date through Wednesday's close.
