Netflix Names Content Chief Ted Sarandos Co-CEO, Forecasts Weaker Growth
On Thursday, Netflix appointed Ted Sarandos it’s content chief to the position of co-CEO, making him the pioneering streaming video service. The promotion came in just when the company forecasted that the slowing subscriber growth during the pandemic.
Today the company reported its Q2 financial performance and soon after its shares went tumbling down to 9.5% in after-hours trading. The slowing performance of its shares was more than Wall Street expected during the third quarter.
Sarandos is prepared to continue his role as content operations with his newly added duties. Reed Hastings has said that the two co-CEOs will be working full time each and that he had no plans to leave the company soon.
According to IBES data from Refinitiv, Netflix forecast that it will add 2.5 million new paid streaming customers around the world from July through September. Analysts expected an average projection of 5.3 million. For the June quarter, the company reported earning $1.59 per share in the three months, $6.15 billion in Q2 revenue generated operating income of $1.36 billion, and net income of $720 million.
From April through June, Netflix has reported its highest second-quarter gain with added 10.1 million streaming subscribers. The coronavirus pandemic had forced people around the world home and these restrictions led to “huge growth in the first half of the year,”
In a letter to its shareholders, Netflix said “as a result, we expect less growth for the second half of 2020 compared to the prior year.” Shares of the company were ranked among the biggest gainers with 9.5% to $477.15 in after-trading hours. The streaming service reached nearly 193 million paying online customers with its new members. Viewers are embracing online viewing and as a result, the company is pushing to win new customers to outrun the competition.
Despite the heavy competition faces by the company from Walt Disney Co’s Disney+ which rolled out in November and AT&T Inc’s debuted HBO Max in May, the membership of Netflix rolls have risen. Moreover, the schedule for Netflix’s new programs has remained intact for 2020 even with a widespread halt to the production of TV shows and film amid the COVID-19 outbreak.