SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
from the and-I-thought-a-night-out-at-the-movies-was-expensive dept.
Netflix burns cash at a record pace, but investors love it
In its third quarter earnings statement on Tuesday, the company reported negative free cash flow of $859 million, the biggest figure in its history. Netflix continues to increase spending on original content as it seeks to compete with other players like Hulu, HBO and planned streaming services like Disney's, scheduled for next year. Netflix will reportedly spend at least $8 billion on content in 2018.
It would be a shame if someone were to pirate or illicitly stream that content.
Netflix has criticized the EU's local content quotas:
Netflix used its third quarter earnings report to criticize the European Union over a new content quota for streaming services. The EU, writes Netflix CEO Reed Hastings in the report, is "currently rewriting its audio visual rules" that will demand streaming services like Netflix "devote a minimum of 30 percent of their catalog to European works." Netflix's report acknowledged that catering to a specific audience encouraged more regional original programming for international audiences, but suggested that enforcing quotas on a streaming service could have unwanted negative effects.
Netflix is already set to spend $1 billion on European content this year.
Also at MarketWatch.
Related: Netflix to Raise Another $1.6bn to Finance New Films and Shows
Netflix Beats Wall Street Expectations on Subscriber Growth, Reaches $100 Billion Market Cap
Netflix Won't be Going to Cannes After All
Netflix Shares Plunge as Subscriber Growth Rate Stalls
Netflix Will Now Interrupt Series Binges With Video Ads for its Other Series
Local Product Quotas for Netflix, Amazon to Become Law, EU Official Says
Animated "Diablo" Series Reportedly Coming to Netflix
Netflix Buys ABQ Studios in Albuquerque, New Mexico
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 18 2018, @10:46AM (2 children)
Except, Netflix had $9 billion in revenue in 2016, $12 billion in revenue in 2017, and in first 9 months already has $12 billion in revenue. Their net income (after expenses) was less than $200 MILLION in 20016, $560 MILLION in 2017 and already more than $1000 MILLION in first 9 months.
They haven't issues stock in years. They have issued about $5 billion in debt in last 2.5 years. And their cashburn is adding to their library for streaming, that is growing steadily in revenue. So far, they've generated more than $2.8 billion in *profits* in their operations. Basically, if the company is liquidated at current valuations, they are worth about $5 billion for shareholders, or about $12/share. So yes, maybe their $360 price is a little high (30x value), but hey, optimism?
But I wouldn't call netflix a "mandate of heaven" company. They are not Uber ;)
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 18 2018, @01:49PM
From the Q3 financial statement cashflow tab it shows they spent 1,704,169 more than they made (1,077,308) so far in 2018.
https://ir.netflix.com/ir-overview/profile/default.aspx [netflix.com]
(Score: 2) by jmorris on Thursday October 18 2018, @11:09PM
Well lets compare. Valuations have fluctuated and right now they aren't worth quite as much as Disney. Disney's market cap is 172B vs 151B for Netflix. Disney owns ABC, ESPN, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars and releases major motion pictures under the Disney and several other labels, their back catalog is not big, it can only be described as yuge. Disney is soon rolling out a streaming service to directly compete with Netflix. Meanwhile Netflix has a few made for TV productions in the vault and some contracts to stream other people's stuff that is likely to increase in cost or simply be yanked entirely. See the problem with trying to find a rational explanation for their extreme valuation?