Second Quarter Earnings Up 45% Year-on-Year
Korean Content Emerges as a Key Driver of Global Success
On June 30, at Gwanghwamun Square in Seoul, citizens and foreign tourists are enjoying games at the Squid Game pop-up event held to celebrate the 2025 K-Content Seoul Travel Week. Photo by Yonhap News
Netflix has announced its second-quarter results, slightly surpassing market expectations, while Korean content continues to enjoy steady popularity among global viewers.
According to the earnings report released by Netflix on the 17th (local time), second-quarter revenue reached $11.079 billion, up 15.9% from the same period last year, with earnings per share (EPS) at $7.19.
Both revenue and EPS exceeded the Wall Street average 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 reached $3.77 billion, a 45% increase compared to the same period last year.
Netflix announced that it is raising its annual revenue outlook 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 reflects the recent weakening of the dollar, robust subscriber growth, and strong advertising sales. 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.
In particular, Netflix highlighted the animated film "Kpop Demon Hunters" and "Squid Game" Season 3, both released in the second quarter, as major achievements. Based on viewing records tallied over the first 91 days after release, "Kpop Demon Hunters" reached 80 million views, while "Squid Game" Season 3 recorded 122 million views.
"Kpop Demon Hunters" is considered the most successful animated film produced by Netflix to date. Netflix stated that the movie's soundtrack is dominating the Billboard charts and Spotify platform. The company also emphasized that "Squid Game" Season 3, despite being released only a few weeks ago, has already achieved the sixth-highest viewership among all series in Netflix history.
Netflix stated, "Korean content continues to be popular," adding that in addition to "Squid Game," other popular Korean titles released in the second quarter include "Weak Hero: Class 2" (20 million views), "Square" (18 million views), and "Your Taste" (15 million views).
However, among the highly anticipated titles scheduled for release in the second half of the year, no Korean works were mentioned.
On the New York Stock Exchange that day, Netflix shares closed at $1,274.17, up 1.91% from the previous day, but in after-hours trading as of 6 p.m. (Eastern Time), the stock was trading at $1,252.00, down 1.74%. As of this date, Netflix shares have risen approximately 43% since the beginning of the year.
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