Netflix misses growth target as video wars draw regulators’ attention

Netflix, the company whose success in video streaming prompted a wave of industry consolidation, plunged in late Monday trading after missing its subscriber-growth target by about 1 million.

Membership increased by 5.2 million in the three months through June, roughly the same as last year but about 16 percent short of the Los Gatos, Calif.-based firm’s 6.2 million goal, Chief Executive Officer Reed Hastings said in a letter to investors. Shares fell 14 percent to $345.09 after the close of regular New York trading.

Earnings of 85 cents a share beat the 80-cent average estimate from Wall Street analysts, and net income grew more than fivefold to $384 million as streaming revenue surged.

Netflix is expected to spend almost $8 billion on original content this year, and the platform’s shows and movies surpassed HBO in Emmy nominations, breaking the cable network’s 17-year streak at the top.

The emergence of Netflix as a content creator has pushed large media and telecommunications firms to chase premium video with acquisitions that are drawing regulatory attention. The government is appealing a federal judge’s approval of AT&T’s $85 billion Time Warner takeover, and Disney and Comcast are locked in a bidding war for Twenty-First Century Fox that the government says will require some divestitures.

Disney raised its offer for Fox to $71 billion after Comcast proposed $65 billion to counter Disney’s original bid. The winner would gain control over Twenty-First Century Fox’s television and movie studios, regional sports networks and its 30 percent stake in Netflix competitor Hulu.

Disney, which plans to introduce its own streaming platform in 2019, has said it won’t renew a distribution deal with Netflix.

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