What You Need To Know Ahead of Netflix's Earnings Report Thursday

Netflix (NFLX) is set to announce earnings for the first quarter of 2024 after the bell Thursday, when investors may be watching for its subscriber growth and any updates on the streaming giant's partnership with WWE.

The streaming giant's revenue is expected to come in at $9.26 billion, according to consensus estimates collected by Visible Alpha, a jump from the $8.16 billion in revenue it recorded for the first quarter of 2023. Analysts anticipate adjusted net income to be $2.07 billion, up from $1.38 billion in the same period the year prior. Adjusted diluted earnings per share (EPS) are projected at $4.68, a significant increase from $3.06 in the first quarter of last year.

Key Metric: Subscriber Growth

Investors will be watching Netflix's subscriber count looking for growth. In the fourth quarter of 2023, the streaming company reported 260.28 million paid memberships globally, a 12% increase from the year prior.

Netflix's subscriber numbers surged after the company started enforcing a password-sharing crackdown, but analysts indicated that this may already priced into the stock.

Wedbush recently removed Netflix from its "Best Ideas List," but maintained an "outperform" rating, noting the firm anticipates "it will be much harder for Netflix to impress investors in 2024 vs. 2023."

Business Spotlight: WWE Programming Updates

Netflix could provide investors with details about WWE coming to the platform in 2025 and its push into live sports content.

The streaming giant and WWE parent TKO Group Holdings (TKO) announced in January that "RAW," WWE's flagship weekly show, will come to Netflix in 2025.

Wedbush analysts said that "Netflix has reached the right formula with global content creation, balancing costs, and increasing profitability," adding there are "further catalysts ahead" including the "full digestion of the advertising potential of WWE in 2025 and beyond, gaming expansion into more licensed IP, and growth in viewership (leading to accretion) on the ad tier."

Netflix shares fell 2.5% to $607.15 Monday to start the week. However, the stock has gained nearly 30% year to date and more than 82% over the past 12 months.