...April 20, 2022 CHICAGO (S&P Global Ratings) April 20, 2022--Netflix Inc. has underperformed our expectation for subscriber growth the past two quarters and is guiding to a 2 million subscriber decline in second-quarter 2022. What appeared to be a slowdown in subscriber adds in 2021 after the height of the COVID-19 pandemic may have been the beginning of a new slower phase of subscriber growth. Netflix's market penetration is likely more advanced than we anticipated, and competition is increasing in the streaming ecosystem. While this will be a hurdle to revenue growth and ratings upside, it does not affect our view of the '###' rating. The rating reflects the progress Netflix has made translating its scale and strong brand into a sustainably free cash flow generative business. This pivot to a more mature and cash generative business, coupled with its strong brand and global over-the-top (OTT) leadership, distinguish Netflix from most of its peers in the early stages of building scaled OTT...
