Netflix shares are sinking sharply after the streaming service suffered its first subscriber loss in more than a decade.
The company's customer base fell by 200,000 subscribers during the January-March period, the company disclosed Tuesday in releasing its latest earnings report. Netflix's stock price plunged more than 37% to $219.50 in early trading on Wednesday as investors fretted about the company's slowing growth and mounting competition.
UBS analysts downgraded their rating on Netflix's stock from "buy" to "neutral," citing fierce competition in streaming, economic headwinds and market saturation.
The decline in subscribers is the first since Netflix became available throughout most of the world outside of China six years ago. The drop this year stemmed in part from Netflix's decision to withdraw from Russia to protest the war against Ukraine, resulting in a loss of 700,000 subscribers.
Even so, Netflix acknowledged its problems are deep-rooted by projecting a loss of another 2 million subscribers during the April-June period.
The company reported revenue of nearly $7.9 billion in the period, falling slightly short of Wall Street forecasts. For the current quarter ending in July, Netflix said it expects revenue of just over $8 billion. Analysts surveyed by Zacks had expected revenue of $8.2 billion.