By Yasin Ebrahim
Investing.com - Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) reported on Thursday fourth quarter results that beat analysts' forecasts, but weaker guidance on subscriber growth flagged concerns about peaking demand following the streaming giant's recent price hike.
Netflix shares lost 13% in after-hours trading following the report.
For the first quarter of 2022, the company forecast paid net adds of 2.5 million, down from 4.0 million in the year ago quarter, but improved growth for the back half of the year that would supported by the launch of season two of Bridgerton, and its new original film The Adam Project, with both set to launch in March.
The weaker guidance arrived as fourth quarter results beat on the top and bottom lines despite a weaker-than-expected net adds during the quarter.
Netflix announced earnings per share of $1.33 on revenue of $7.71 billion. Analysts polled by Investing.com anticipated EPS of 84 cents on revenue of $7.71 billion.
Netflix added 8.28 million users, below its forecast of 8.5 million net subscriber adds. Analysts had expected about 8.2 million net adds.
Free cash flow for the quarter was -$569 million versus -$284 million in Q4‘20. The company said, however, it expected to be free cash flow positive for the full year 2022 and beyond.
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