LIVE: Netflix reports its Q2 earnings as new competitors loom on the horizon

Reuters

• Netflix reports earnings on July 17, after the markets close.
• The streaming-TV company is expected to add 5 million paid subscribers, slightly fewer than it did a year ago, as the streaming landscape gets more competitive.
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Netflix is expected to post modest gains of around 5 million paid subscribers when it reports earnings for the second quarter on Wednesday afternoon. The projected growth is less than the 5.45 million paid members Netflix added a year ago.

The second quarter is usually slower period for Netflix because it releases fewer original movies and series. The company may also have hit snags this year in key markets like Brazil, because of recent price hikes there.

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Read more: Netflix could be struggling in some key markets, including India and Brazil, but Wall Street is still optimistic

Still, the streaming-TV company will have added more than 50 million paid subscribers in little more than two years, pushing its paid member base past 150 million worldwide. It took Netflix about a decade to climb to 100 million streaming subscribers after making movies and series available to stream in 2007, and later offering them through a standalone subscription.

The company's swift recent rise - buoyed by subscribers joining the service from outside of the US - is a sign of how quickly the streaming-video industry is growing around the world. The trend is apparent not only at Netflix, but at competitors like Amazon Prime Video.

Wall Street will be looking for Netflix to show it can keep growing at a steady clip during the second half of the year, as subscription services from legacy media brands, including Disney Plus and HBO Max, loom in the US.

The company's guidance for subscriber growth during the third quarter will be a key number to watch.

Already, Netflix appears to be off to a strong start to the third quarter, with "Stranger Things" making the biggest four-day debut of any original on the service in July, the company previously announced.

We will updating this post live as the numbers come out.

Here are the key numbers in Netflix's Q2 earnings:

• Q2 revenue: Wall Street estimates $4.93 billion and Netflix forecasts $4.93 billion.
• Q2 earnings per share (GAAP): Wall Street estimates $0.56 and Netflix forecasts $0.55.
• Q2 total paid subscriber growth (paid net additions): Wall Street estimates 5.06 million and Netflix forecasts 5 million.
  • In the US, Wall Street estimates 309,240 and Netflix forecasts 300,000.
  • Internationally, Wall Street estimates 4.75 million and Netflix forecasts 4.7 million.