Netflix Falls Short Of Q1 2020 Subscription Target

Streaming video service, Netflix Inc, has reported a gain of 3.98 million in net global streaming subscribers, which was two million short of the firm’s guidance forecast of 210 million paid memberships.

The company announced that it closed out the first quarter of 2021 with 207.4 million paid memberships, adding 3.98 million subscribers, compared to a quarterly record of 15.8 million new paying users in the first three months of 2020.

This missed the company’s own guidance from January for six million new subscribers for the first quarter.

Netflix blamed the subscriber shortfall on its smaller pipeline of originals and expects to open up its wallet this year to attract and retain customers.

It also said paid membership growth slowed due to the big COVID-19 pull forward in 2020 and a lighter content slate in the first half of this year, due to COVID-19 production delays.

“We continue to anticipate a strong second half with the return of new seasons of some of our biggest hits and an exciting film lineup,” the company wrote in its letter to shareholders.