Netflix shares dropped 37 percent on Wednesday morning after the company revealed that it has lost 200,000 subscribers in the first quarter of 2022.
This was the first time in more than a decade that Netflix has reported a loss of users.
The bad news for Netflix shareholders did not stop there. The company is forecasting a loss of a whopping two million users in the next quarter, based on current trends.
Netflix blamed increasing competition and estimated that 100 million households are sharing their subscription passwords with friends and relatives, making it harder to gain new subscribers. Additionally, with most COVID restrictions easing, people are spending less time watching TV.
“Our revenue growth has slowed considerably,” the company wrote in a letter to shareholders on Tuesday evening. “Streaming is winning over linear, as we predicted, and Netflix titles are very popular globally. However, our relatively high household penetration — when including the large number of households sharing accounts — combined with competition, is creating revenue growth headwinds.”
To combat some of the issues, co-CEO Reed Hastings said that they are exploring lower-priced, ad-supported tiers to lure in new users.
Though the company did not cite it as an issue in their report, Netflix has also been facing extreme scrutiny and calls for boycott over their far-left content.
Elon Musk responded to the news by tweeting, “the woke mind virus is making Netflix unwatchable.” The woke mind virus is making Netflix unwatchable
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 20, 2022
Another Twitter user replied, "Not just Netflix. Movies in general, videogames, tv, it's all infested with current year trend woke garbage for fear offending a green haired freak next to the ban button. Nothing original anymore at all, except for media coming out of places like Japan or Korea, ironically." True
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 20, 2022
"True," Musk replied.
Indeed, there are few who could argue against Netflix's woke bonafides.
Netflix has adapted Critical Race Theory advocate Ibram X. Kendi's children's book “Antiracist Baby” into an animated kids’ show with the creator of Disney's Doc McStuffins. For teen audiences, Kendi will be producing a documentary based on his book “Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, & You.”
Finally, his book “Stamped from the Beginning” is also being made into documentary for adults.
The streaming platform has also created a show about Colin Kaepernick, the former NFL player who gained notoriety after refusing to stand for the national anthem.
“With his act of protest, Colin Kaepernick ignited a national conversation about race and justice with far-reaching consequences for football, culture, and for him, personally,” the series’ director said in a press release. “Colin’s story has much to say about identity, sports, and the enduring spirit of protest and resilience. I couldn’t be happier than to tell this story with the team at Netflix.”
Netflix also faced massive backlash, and an 800 percent increase in cancellations, in 2020nafter they began streaming the French film "Cuties," which sexualized very young girls.
On Thursday, Netflix will be premiering a Japanese drama called "He's Expecting," which is described as a comedy and drama. Lol $nflx -26% and they still wanna highlight movies like this “he’s expecting”. When will these woke companies realize pandering to the .1% is a bad business move? Most of us are pretty normal people who just want to see normal stuff? Maybe try that @netflix @BillAckman pic.twitter.com/eHn7J7aJ6e
— Bull (@amazonholder1) April 20, 2022
"When a successful ad executive who's got it all figured out becomes pregnant, he's forced to confront social inequities he's never considered before," the Netflix description reads.
