NFLX
The beat that didn’t matter
Netflix did what Wall Street usually asks for: it beat Q1 expectations. Revenue hit $12.25 billion, net income came in at $5.28 billion, and EPS more than doubled from a year ago. Nice. But the market treated that like the appetizer, not the meal.
The forecast was the buzzkill
The real problem was Q2 guidance. Netflix pointed to $12.57 billion in revenue and $0.78 in EPS, both below consensus. That’s the kind of miss that makes traders slam the sell button first and ask questions later — which is exactly why the stock dropped 9% after hours.
Reed Hastings is heading for the exit
Then came the other headline: Reed Hastings, the company’s co-founder and longtime chair, said he won’t seek re-election at the June 4 annual meeting. After 29 years of being Netflix’s original plot device, he’s officially easing out of the frame. Greg Peters and Ted Sarandos are still steering the ship, but investors do tend to notice when the founder starts packing his bags.
Big picture
Netflix is still huge, still growing, and still printing a mountain of cash. But when guidance slips and a founder exits at the same time, the market starts acting like the sequel might not be as fun as the original.