A Big Sign Netflix's U.S. Subscriber Growth Is Nearly Tapped Out
Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX) just added more subscribers in one quarter than it did in the first 13 years of its existence. The 15.8 million subscribers the company added in the first quarter far exceeded its original outlook of seven million net additions, due in part to more people staying at home amid the coronavirus pandemic.
While the number of global net additions far exceeds any number Netflix has reported in the past, it's worth noting subscriber additions in the U.S. and Canada region totaled just 2.3 million. That's more than the 1.9 million it added in the first quarter last year, but still less than it added in the first quarter of 2018.
That's a bit surprising, considering that the effect of COVID-19 on streaming engagement and subscriptions has been so pronounced. In his letter to shareholders, CEO Reed Hastings wrote, "Intuitively, the person who didn't join Netflix during the entire confinement is not likely to join soon after the confinement." In other words, subscriber growth in the U.S. and Canada may be tough to come by for the rest of the year.
Source Fool.com
