''We get massive amounts of ‘Q’ thank you letters from around the world every single day.''
– Q1264
Apr 25 2018 10:41:42 (EST)
>>1180605
>>1180604
The world is connected.
All or nothing.
+++ ++ +
Trust the plan.
We get massive amounts of ‘Q’ thank you letters from around the world every single day.
THE WORLD IS WATCHING.
Q
He died after popping his stash which included fatal doses of Fentanyl.
Howell Dodd
streaming
Market Summary
Netflix Inc
219.88 USD
−128.73 (36.93%)today
Apr 20, 12:12 PM EDT • Disclaimer
>Q was awesome in the first years, before it became a Twitter aggregate
>We get massive amounts of ‘Q’ thank you letters from around the world every single day.
>– Q1264
Bill Ackman bet $1.1 billion on Netflix just a month ago and now he’s taking a beating. But the famed investor has doubled down before—and come out ahead
fortune.com/2022/04/20/bill-ackman-netflix-sell-off-buying-opportunity
Just one month ago, hedge fund manager Bill Ackman saw Netflix’s stock price plunge as a $1.1 billion buying opportunity. So Wednesday’s nosedive, with the stock falling 38% in early hours, raises the question: Is he hunkering down or doubling down?
Whatever Ackman’s doing, he certainly took a substantial hit following the company’s first-quarter earnings report, when Netflix revealed it had lost 200,000 subscribers in the first three months of the year and expects to lose 2 million more this quarter.
Exactly how big a hit he took is a nebulous number. When Ackman revealed the purchase, he didn’t say what he paid. But he did note that he’d bought more than 3.1 million shares between Jan. 21 and Jan. 26, when the stock was in the $351.46 to $409.14 range.
Assuming the best-case scenario for his purchase, buying all of those shares at the low end of the range would still represent a loss for Ackman of nearly $415 million in less than 24 hours.
Who is Bill Ackman?
Ackman is no stranger to volatility. In 2017, his investment in Chipotle bombed, only to rebound, then triple in price. And through his hedge bets at the start of the pandemic, he turned $27 million into $2.6 billion.
The founder and CEO of the hedge fund Pershing Square Capital Management made his reputation as an activist investor. He’s often publicly courted his investments (which isn't always welcome), and his New York–based firm is known for taking stakes in companies and pressuring their leaders to make changes or face proxy fights.
In early 2015, he made an ill-fated bet on Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, which resulted in two years of double-digit portfolio losses for his hedge fund firm. Investors then began pulling out of Pershing Square.
He has also courted controversy outside of the business world, tweeting in 2021 that he believed Kyle Rittenhouse to be a “civic-minded patriot” and that the 18-year-old had acted in self-defense when he killed two unarmed protesters and wounded a third.
A buying opportunity?
Ackman bought Netflix on a dip once and could see this as an opportunity to expand his stake in the company.
In announcing the initial purchase, he told investors in Pershing Square, “The opportunity to acquire Netflix at an attractive valuation emerged when investors reacted negatively to the recent quarter’s subscriber growth and management’s short-term guidance.”
And in a tweet at the time, he added, “I have long admired Reed Hastings and the remarkable company he and his team have built. We are delighted that the market has presented us with this opportunity.”
Netflix Pauses For Commercial Break, Plans Ad-Supported Tier
investors.com/news/technology/netflix-stock-video-streamer-plans-ad-supported-tier
PATRICK SEITZApril 20, 2022
Faced with declining subscribers, Netflix (NFLX) has decided to add a lower-priced, ad-supported membership level to shore up its business. The news didn't help Netflix stock, which crashed on Wednesday after a dismal first-quarter report.
It'll give record inflation skyrocketing interest rates war in
0 seconds of 14 minutes, 58 secondsVolume 0%
Netflix Chief Executive Reed Hastings announced the move late Tuesday after the company shocked Wall Street by revealing a surprise drop in subscribers in the first quarter.
Netflix is the last major subscription streaming video service to adopt an ad-supported service tier, something it had pooh-poohed for years.
"Those who have followed Netflix know that I've been against the complexity of advertising and a big fan of the simplicity of subscription," Hastings said on a conference call. "But as much I'm a fan of that, I'm a bigger fan of consumer choice."
Netflix Stock Tanks After First-Quarter Report
Netflix will offer the ad-supported service in the next year or two, Hastings said. He said Netflix likely will partner with other companies for the ad-serving technology.
In midday trading on the stock market today, Netflix stock plummeted 36.3% to 222.13. It dropped to its lowest level in more than 4 years.
Investors dumped Netflix stock after the company reported losing 200,000 subscribers in the first quarter. Wall Street and the company's own guidance had predicted 2.5 million new subscribers in the period.
Worse yet, Netflix forecast losing 2 million subscribers in the second quarter. It ended the March quarter with 221.6 million subscribers worldwide.
Needham Applauds Ad Move
Lower-cost, ad-subsidized subscription offerings at rival services have proved that some consumers like that option, Hastings said.
"It's pretty clear that it's working for Hulu. Disney is doing it. HBO did it," Hastings said. "It would be a plan layer. So, if you still want the ad-free option, you'll be able to have that as a consumer. And if you would rather pay a lower price and you're ad-tolerant, we're going to cater to you also."
Needham analyst Laura Martin, who has been leading the call for Netflix to add an ad-supported service tier, upgraded Netflix stock to hold from underperform on Wednesday.
However, she said Netflix is now a "show me" story. It will need to show investors that it can grow its business through advertising and by monetizing nonpaying users who access the service through shared accounts.
Netflix's roughly 222 million global subscribers might turn out to be a peak for the company, given growing competition, Martin said.
Netflix Stock Downgraded
At least 11 Wall Street firms that had buy ratings on Netflix stock downgraded it to neutral or sell after the earnings report.
JPMorgan analyst Doug Anmuth lowered his rating on Netflix stock to neutral from overweight. He also slashed his price target to 300 from 605.
Netflix reported a "sea change quarter" in which the company "essentially conceded to every key point of the bear thesis," Anmuth said in a note to clients.
Monness Crespi Hardt analyst Brian White said Netflix executives weren't their usual chipper selves on their quarterly conference call for investors.
"The tone of the call was dark with Netflix dazed by a flurry of forces hijacking the platform, including a high penetration rate, password sharing, increased competition, negative macro trends, and the suspension of service in Russia," White said in a note to clients. He rates Netflix stock as neutral.
Follow Patrick Seitz on Twitter at @IBD_PSeitz for more stories on consumer technology, software and semiconductor stocks.