Netflix reported its first-quarter 2026 earnings Thursday, revealing that during the January-March period (when it was still in talks to acquire Warner Bros.) it smashed analyst expectations in both revenue and earnings.
Revenue reached $12.25 billion, up 16% from the comparable 2025 quarter. Though Netflix no longer discloses total subscriber count on a quarterly basis, the streamer said it does attribute that Q1 revenue growth to “slightly higher-than-planned subscription revenue.”
Across territories, revenue was up 14% year over year in the U.S. and Canada ($5.2 billion), 17% in Europe, the Middle East and Africa ($4 billion), 19% in Latin America ($1.5 billion) and 20% in the Asia-Pacific region.
On these results, Netflix is reiterating its previous forecast of $50.7 billion-$51.7 billion in revenue for the full year 2026.
While Netflix did institute a new price increase since reporting its last quarterly earnings, the change was announced March 26 and largely took affect after the Q1 period ended. The price increase impact will be reflected more in Netflix’s April-June earnings results.
For Q2, Netflix says it projects revenue growth of 13%. “As we noted in last quarter’s letter, growth in content amortization will be first-half weighted due to the timing of title launches. We expect Q2 to have the highest year-over-year content amortization growth rate in 2026, before decelerating to mid-to-high single digit growth in the second half of the year.”
Netflix says its still young ad segment remains on track to reach $3 billion in revenue this year, doubling year-over-year.
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Net income stood at $5.3 billion. Free cash flow for the quarter was $5.1 billion.
Wall Street analysts on average expected Netflix Q1 revenue of $12.18 billion and earnings per share (EPS) of 76 cents, according to LSEG Data & Analytics. Netflix reported adjusted EPS of $1.23 on the above-mentioned $12.25 billion in revenue.
In a letter to shareholders accompanying the financials, Netflix revealed co-founder and former CEO Reed Hastings has decided to leave the streamer’s board in June. Hastings stepped down as co-CEO in 2023, leaving Ted Sarandos in the chief position alongside Greg Peters, who was promoted from chief operating officer.
The Q1 results come on the heels of Netflix’s back-and-forth battle with Paramount Skydance for Warner Bros. studio and streaming assets. Netflix bowed out of the race in late February, when Paramount made a new offer that topped Netflix’s final bid and the streamer drew the line at going any higher.
“Our mission remains ambitious and unchanged: to entertain the world,” Netflix said in the Thursday earnings letter. “No other entertainment company has tried to program at this scale, for this many tastes, cultures, and languages. Warner Bros. would have been a nice accelerant for our strategy, but only at the right price. We have multiple ways to achieve our goals (including producing, licensing, and partnering) and we’re constantly seeking to allocate our resources to the most attractive opportunities to maximize the value we are delivering to our members”
Shares of Netflix stock fell 9% in after-hours trading following the earnings release.
From Variety US