by Dawn Chmielewski and Lisa Richwine

(Reuters) – Netflix released January-March results on Tuesday in line with Wall Street expectations but with fewer new subscribers than expected, and reported disappointing guidance for the current quarter, triggering a downturn of his title in post-closing discussions.

The streaming giant added 1.75 million new subscribers in the first quarter, below analysts’ estimates of an average of 2.06 million new customers.

Netflix reported first-quarter diluted earnings of $2.88 per share against consensus of $2.86, suggesting it is beginning to reap the benefits of early moves to limit password sharing and the addition of an offer with advertisements.

For the April-June period, the group said it anticipated sales of $8.24 billion and diluted earnings per share of $2.86, amounts lower than Wall Street forecasts, which expected a revenue of $8.47 billion and diluted earnings per share of $3.05.

Netflix is ​​considered the leading indicator of the streaming industry, where growth has slowed or even declined due to increased competition between platforms.

A year ago, the company had lost 200,000 subscribers, the first decline in this register in more than a decade which caused a fall in its title and caused Wall Street to revise its expectations for the sector.

In the last quarter of 2022, Netflix offered a discounted version, with ads, of its subscription in a dozen countries.

In addition, it also implemented in a dozen countries in February a measure for the sharing of passwords, indicating that it had postponed until the second quarter the implementation of its new controls on a larger scale.

Netflix said this will “lead to better results for our members and our business,” adding that it is on track to achieve all of its financial goals for the year.

(Report Dawn Chmielewski and Lisa Richwine; Jean Terzian)

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