, Columnist
Feel the Netflix Burn
Yes, the company beat forecasts for users, but there's no guarantee they'll pay off.
This article is for subscribers only.
Netflix is a Rorschach test for investors. Do they look at the company's financials and see a sensible bet on a promising future or a disaster waiting to happen?
For the second consecutive quarter, Netflix added fewer than half a million net new subscribers to its web-streaming service in the U.S. That was the worst stretch of net customer additions in five years. But the company signed up more customers than it had forecast in the third quarter, and it expects the new sign-ups to perk up in the fourth. Netflix's big bet on international expansion also appears to be going well, with a better-than-expected 3.2 million net new subscribers.