After a siding with the bulls in the run-up to Netflix‘s latest earnings report, CNBC’s Jim Cramer explained why the quarter made him more optimistic about the company’s future, saying he was impressed by management’s outlook and commentary about content.
“If you were worried about Netflix not having enough levers to pull in order to generate growth going forward, or at least enough growth to justify the stock’s price-to-earnings multiple, I think those concerns have been put to bed by last night’s earnings report,” he said. “Near-term, the Netflix bears will hibernate, but just remember all these positives when they inevitably come out of their den and try to maul this best-of-breed company with a stock that I think can rock on higher for a long time.”
Netflix beat Wall Street’s expectations for earnings, revenue and paid membership growth when it posted its report Thursday evening. The streaming giant’s shares popped 11% Friday morning and maintained those gains through close.
Cramer was encouraged by management’s guidance for the current quarter and 2025, as the company expects to keep up double-digit revenue growth some investors feared would be hard to maintain. He also appreciated co-CEO Ted Sarandos’ explanation about Netflix’s vast library and engagement, including his assertion that members on average watch two hours of content per day. Cramer pointed out that Sarandos also said that the streamer is focused on adding “more value to this package,” instead of bundling content with other streaming services, as some competitors are doing.
This breadth of content makes Cramer optimistic about Netflix’s ability to scale its ad-tier, pointing to popular offerings like “Emily in Paris,” “Selling Sunset” and “Squid Game,” as well as two National Football League games set to stream on Christmas. He also liked Sarandos’ positive read on how AI will impact business.
“I’m not saying that Netflix has become an AI play, not at all, I’m just saying that between the expanding library, clear customer interest in the ad tier model, and their ability to harness the power of artificial intelligence, we have a lot of positives here, and it’s gong to translate into a lot of money,” Cramer said.