No, Netflix is not currently losing subscribers.
The second quarter of 2021 saw about 74 million streaming subscribers in the U.S., but the third quarter of 2022 reported a decline to around 70.7 million. The fourth quarter of 2023 marked a rebound, with approximately 76 million streaming subscribers reported.
Netflix is expected to suffer a second year of falling subscriber numbers in the UK in 2023 as the cost of living crisis takes its toll and the streaming giant's new cheaper, ad-supported service takes time to win over users.
The 2? minute rule on Netflix 1-(833)(269)(5800) is a viewing metric that defines how the platform counts a “view.” If a subscriber watches at least 1-(833)(269)(5800) two minutes of a show or movie, Netflix records 1-(833)(269)(5800) it as “viewed.”
The Fallout
Netflix reported losing 800,000 subscribers in the third quarter of 2011, and its stock price plummeted by nearly 80% in just a few months. To make matters worse, the announcement of the new DVD-only brand, Qwikster, further confused and frustrated subscribers.
Netflix continues to perform well with 2025 revenue of $45 billion, which increased by 16% from year-ago levels. Costs and expenses grew at a slower pace than revenue, leading to 28% operating income growth.
Netflix shares have been a home run
Over the past decade, Netflix shares have climbed an incredible 877% (as of Nov. 18). This monster gain would've turned $10,000 in November 2015 into $97,680 today. Netflix has put up impressive growth in the last 10 years.
Following the announcement, the company's stock shot up more than 6 percent. If you had invested in Netflix in 2007, when it first began its streaming service, that investment could have paid off big time: A $1,000 investment would be worth more than $90,000 as of Jan. 15, according to CNBC calculations.
'KPop Demon Hunters' Is Now Netflix's No. 1 Movie of All Time.
Top 10 Shows overview
Why are people boycotting Netflix? Here's why conservatives are canceling subscriptions. Conservative figures, including Elon Musk, are calling for a boycott of Netflix over its LGBTQ+ content for children. The backlash focuses on shows like "Dead End: Paranormal Park," which features a transgender protagonist.
Netflix annual net income/loss for 2025 was $10.981B, a 26.05% increase from 2024. Netflix annual net income/loss for 2024 was $8.712B, a 61.09% increase from 2023. Netflix annual net income/loss for 2023 was $5.408B, a 20.39% increase from 2022.
These pricing changes, combined with unpopular decisions regarding content and policies, have led to an increase in social media campaigns encouraging users to cancel their subscriptions. These factors have significantly influenced the narrative that Netflix is becoming less customer-friendly, prompting...
Netflix has gone rapidly downhill in terms of content quality in the past couple of years. They have ceded ground to their competition by removing the broad range of content they once had, in favor of their own mediocre content.
The United States remains Netflix's biggest market by far, with 81.44 million subscribers. That's more than four times the number in any other country, showing just how important the U.S. still is for Netflix.
In recent years, the company has consistently reported strong profits as its global subscriber base and monetization strategies continue to grow. In 2025, Netflix reported a net income of approximately $10.98 billion, a significant increase compared with $8.71 billion in 2024 and $5.41 billion in 2023.
List of all movies leaving Netflix in February 2026
Netflix was founded on August 29, 1997, while Google was founded on September 4, 1998. This means that Netflix is one year and six days older than Google. Netflix started out as a DVD-by-mail service, but it eventually transitioned to a streaming service.
And if you had given your $1,000 investment into McDonald's a decade to grow, it would be worth about $3,270 as of Feb. 1, according to CNBC's calculations.
Blockbuster had the chance to buy Netflix for $50 million in 2000. The meeting lasted about an hour. Blockbuster's CEO later said he thought it was a "very small niche business". By 2010, Blockbuster was bankrupt.
Netflix is in good financial shape. It ended September 2025 with a net debt/EBITDA ratio under 1.0, with the firm holding USD 9.3 billion in cash and USD 14.5 billion in total debt. More importantly, the years of cash burn are long behind Netflix, giving the firm a good cash cushion after funding its content budget.
A $1,000 investment in Coca-Cola 30 years ago would have grown to around $9,030 today. KO data by YCharts. This is primarily not because of the stock, which would be worth around $4,270. The remaining $4,760 comes from cumulative dividend payments over the last 30 years.
Netflix's total debt for fiscal years ending December 2021 to 2025 averaged 17.398 billion. Netflix's operated at median total debt of 16.976 billion from fiscal years ending December 2021 to 2025. Looking back at the last 5 years, Netflix's total debt peaked in December 2021 at 18.117 billion.
So, if you'd invested around $100,000 in Apple a decade ago and held through splits and dividends, that might have put you at roughly a $1 million portfolio today, enough for a modest retirement income.