Netflix Narrows 2026 Revenue Range After Slower Quarter

The Tip Desk · July 17, 2026 · 3 min read

Second-quarter revenue reached $12.6 billion, up 13% from a year earlier, as the company tightened its 2026 forecast to $51.0 billion to $51.4 billion.

Netflix (NFLX) narrowed its 2026 revenue forecast to $51.0 billion to $51.4 billion after second-quarter sales of $12.6 billion rose 13% from a year earlier, a slower pace than the 16% year-over-year increase in the first quarter.

The streaming company said both the revenue result and a 33.4% operating margin were in line with its guidance. Operating income was $4.2 billion, up 11% from a year earlier, slightly ahead of the company’s forecast because of the timing of expenses. Diluted earnings were $0.80 a share.

The company attributed the sales increase primarily to membership growth, pricing and higher advertising revenue, and said it delivered double-digit growth in every region.

United States and Canada, the largest market, was the clearest sequential break. UCAN revenue was $5.43 billion, up 10% from a year earlier after 14% growth in the first quarter. The second-quarter figure reflected only a partial-quarter impact from a recent price change that has gone well and as expected.

EMEA revenue was $4.03 billion, up 14% (11% on an FX-neutral basis). Latin America revenue was $1.58 billion, up 21% (16% FX-neutral), and APAC revenue was $1.51 billion, up 16% (18% FX-neutral).

The company said operating income grew more slowly than revenue because content amortization growth is higher in the first half of the year. It continues to expect amortization to grow more slowly in the second half and to increase about 10% for 2026.

For the third quarter, Netflix expects revenue growth of 12% (11% FX-neutral) from memberships, pricing and ad revenue, and an operating margin of 33.2%. The 2026 outlook still implies 13% to 14% revenue growth, about 12% on an FX-neutral basis, and an operating margin of 31.5%, with annual operating-income growth of more than 20%. Ads revenue remains on track to roughly double to about $3 billion in 2026.

In the first half of 2026, members watched more than 97 billion hours, up 2% from a year earlier, slightly faster than 1.5% growth in 2025, despite the Winter Olympics and the World Cup. Harlan Coben’s I Will Find You was its most-viewed new original series debut of 2026, with 87 million views, and Swapped, at 137 million views, is on its way to becoming its second-most-viewed original animated film.

Free cash flow in the second quarter was $1.5 billion, including higher cash tax payments tied in part to the Warner Bros. termination fee. The company still expects full-year free cash flow of about $12.5 billion.

In April, the board authorized an additional $25 billion of share repurchases. In the second quarter, Netflix bought back $4.7 billion of stock, its largest quarter of repurchases, leaving $27.1 billion of remaining capacity. Gross debt ended the quarter at $14.4 billion and cash and cash equivalents at $9.1 billion.

After the first-half What We Watched report, Netflix said it will shift that report to annual publication in the first quarter beginning in 2027, while still reporting title-by-title and total view hours.