"This is practically Hanflix".. Netflix, 'Squid Game 3' and 'K-Pop Demon Hunters' success boosts operating profit by 45%

[Financial News] Netflix, the world's largest content streaming service, announced earnings for the second quarter that slightly exceeded market expectations, with Korean content driving Netflix's performance. Netflix also stated that Korean content continues to be popular among global viewers. 

According to the earnings report released by Netflix on the 17th (local time), second-quarter sales increased by 15.9% compared to the same period last year, reaching $11.079 billion (approximately 15.44 trillion won), with earnings per share (EPS) at $7.19.

Both sales and EPS exceeded Wall Street's average expectations, compiled by financial information company LSEG, of $11.07 billion in sales and $7.08 EPS.

The operating profit margin for the second quarter was 34.1%, up 2.4 percentage points from the previous quarter's 31.7% and 6.9 percentage points higher than the same period last year (27.2%). Operating profit increased by 45% compared to the same period last year, reaching $3.775 billion.
Netflix raised its annual sales forecast for this year from the previous range of $43.5 billion to $44.5 billion to $44.8 billion to $45.2 billion.

Netflix cited the recent weakness of the dollar, strong subscriber growth, and advertising sales performance as reasons for the upward revision. However, it predicted that the operating profit margin for the second half would be lower than that of the first half, due to content amortization costs and operating and marketing expenses related to large-scale works scheduled for release in the second half.

Among the works released in the second quarter, Netflix highlighted the animation film 'K-Pop Demon Hunters' and 'Squid Game' Season 3 as major achievements.
'K-Pop Demon Hunters' recorded 80 million views based on viewing records for 91 days after its first release. 'Squid Game' Season 3 had 122 million views.

The company explained that 'K-Pop Demon Hunters' is one of the most successful animated films Netflix has produced so far, and that the film's soundtrack is sweeping the Billboard charts and Spotify platform.

'Squid Game' Season 3 also set the sixth-highest viewing record in Netflix history for all series, despite being released only a few weeks ago, according to the company. 

Netflix also stated, "Korean content continues to be popular with our viewers. In addition to 'Squid Game', 'Minor Hero: Class 2' (20 million views), 'Square' (18 million views), and 'Your Taste' (15 million views) were among the most popular Korean series released in the second quarter."

However, no Korean works were mentioned among the anticipated releases for the second half.

On this day, Netflix's stock price closed at $1,274.17, up 1.91% from the previous day on the New York Stock Exchange, and in after-hours trading, it was down 1.74% to $1,252.00 as of 6 p.m. (Eastern Time).

y27k@fnnews.com Seo Yoon Kyung Reporter