Netflix’s subscriber count falls amid the coronavirus pandemic

On Tuesday, Netflix Inc. (NFLX.O) posted its weakest subscriber count in four years.

The American technology and media services provider said that the number of Netflix’s subscribers went down because travel restrictions eased and live sports returned to television. It also added that streaming competition increased amid the coronavirus outbreak.

The firm stated that there are only 2.2 Million paid subscribers worldwide during the quarter that ended on September 30, 2020.

“We continue to view quarter-to-quarter fluctuations in paid net ads as not that meaningful in the context of the long-run adoption of internet entertainment, which we believe is still early and should provide us with many years of strong future growth as we continue to improve our service,” Netflix said in a statement.

According to IBES data from Refinitiv, Netflix’s consensus forecast was at $2.14. However, its earnings per share landed below analysts’ expectations at $1.74

“Domestic subscribers were nearly flat, which highlights Netflix’s saturation in the U.S. With domestic additions slowing, revenue growth will likely come from price increases,” eMarketer Analyst Ross Benes said.

Netflix’s shares dropped by 6% to $494 in after-hours trading on Tuesday.