Netflix’s revenue for the first quarter of 2026 was $12.25 billion, which was more than the $12.18 billion that was expected and a big increase from $10.54 billion last year. Adjusted EPS came in at $1.23, which was more than 55% higher than the consensus estimate of $0.76 to $0.79. This was thanks to membership growth of over 325 million and strong free cash flow of $5.1 billion. The operating margin was 32.3%, which was in line with full-year guidance. This was due to an increase in advertising revenue and more than 4,000 advertisers, which was a 70% increase from the previous year.
After earnings, Wall Street is still optimistic. Analysts like Wedbush have raised their price targets to $118 because of international ad growth and pricing benefits. Evercore keeps its “Buy” rating at $115. Some people think that growth might slow down, even though the beat was good. Deutsche Bank keeps its “Hold” rating at $100, but the overall consensus is “Strong Buy” with targets around $115. Even though the Warner Bros. deal fell through, full-year guidance stayed on track, which made people more confident in Netflix’s monetization strategy.
In after-hours trading, Netflix shares fell 0.32% to $107.37. This was because investors were worried about the company’s future guidance, not because it beat its quarterly earnings. Analysts think that continued growth in the ad tier and crackdowns on paid sharing will drive growth in 2026. They expect revenue for the fiscal year to be around $51.4 billion, with margins of 32%. Investors expect subscriber growth to continue and revenue streams to diversify in order to support long-term value.
