"Korean Content Remains Popular"
Mentions Titles Such as "Weak Hero" and "Gwangjang"
Netflix, the world's largest online video streaming service (OTT) company, announced second-quarter revenue that exceeded market expectations and stated that the popularity of Korean content had a positive impact on its performance. As a result, Netflix's market capitalization on the New York Stock Exchange more than doubled that of its competitor, Walt Disney.
According to the earnings report released by Netflix on the 17th (local time), revenue for the second quarter of this year reached $11.079 billion (approximately 15.44 trillion won), up 15.9% from the same period last year. Earnings per share (EPS) stood at $7.19. Both revenue and EPS surpassed the Wall Street consensus estimates compiled by financial information provider LSEG (revenue of $11.07 billion and EPS of $7.08).
The operating margin for the second quarter was 34.1%, up 2.4 percentage points from the previous quarter (31.7%) and 6.9 percentage points higher than the same period last year (27.2%). Operating profit was $3.775 billion, representing a 45% increase compared to the same period last year.
Netflix announced that it has raised its annual revenue outlook for this year from the previous range of $43.5 billion to $44.5 billion, to a new range of $44.8 billion to $45.2 billion. The company explained that this upward adjustment reflects the recent weakness of the dollar, the solid growth in subscriber numbers, and advertising sales performance.
However, the company expects the operating margin in the second half of the year to be lower than in the first half, citing content amortization expenses, as well as operating and marketing costs related to large-scale titles scheduled for release in the second half, as the reasons.
Among the titles released in the second quarter, Netflix highlighted the animated film "KPop Demon Hunters" and "Squid Game" Season 3 as major achievements. Based on viewing figures compiled over the first 91 days after release, Netflix reported that "KPop Demon Hunters" recorded 80 million views, while "Squid Game" Season 3 reached 122 million views.
The company stated that "KPop Demon Hunters" is one of the most successful animated films ever produced by Netflix, and that the film's soundtrack is dominating the Billboard charts and the Spotify platform.
Netflix emphasized that "Squid Game" Season 3, despite being released only a few weeks ago, has already achieved the sixth-highest viewing record among all series in Netflix's history. The company added, "Korean content continues to be popular with our viewers," and noted that, in addition to "Squid Game," "Weak Hero: Class 2" (20 million views), "Gwangjang" (18 million views), and "Your Taste" (15 million views) were among the most popular Korean series released in the second quarter. However, no Korean titles were mentioned among the highly anticipated releases scheduled for the second half of the year.
On this day, Netflix shares closed at $1,274.17 on the New York Stock Exchange, up 1.91% from the previous day, bringing its market capitalization to $542.2 billion (approximately 753.7 trillion won). This figure is larger than the combined market capitalization of its competitors Walt Disney ($219.7 billion) and Warner Bros. Discovery ($31.7 billion).
Meanwhile, the company announced during last year's fourth-quarter earnings release that its global paid subscriber count was 301.63 million. Starting this year, however, Netflix declared that it would no longer disclose subscriber numbers, instead focusing on providing key financial indicators such as operating margin and profitability.
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