Netflix Stock Plummets 27% Following Earnings Report

**Waqas** · October 24, 2011

And the Netflix hits just keep on coming. The company’s stock price, which was flirting with $300 over the summer, was trading at around $85 — down roughly 27% — in after-hours trading.

The impetus seemed to be Netflix’s disclosure that it lost 800,000 subscribers in its most-recent quarter, when it had predicted the company’s September price increase would merely slow growth in the quarter. (The company revised its estimate to 24 million overall subscribers in September.) Otherwise, Netflix had met its revenues and earnings target for the quarter.

Whatever the motivation, the company’s plummeting stock price is likely to increase calls for CEO Reed Hastings dismissal. In an interview with The New York Times Magazine that ran over the weekend, Hastings said he was not considering such a move.

“No, not for a second,” he said, when asked if had thought about resigning. “I founded Netflix. Iâ€™ve built it steadily over 12 years now, first with DVD becoming profitable in 2002, a head-to-head ferocious battle with Blockbuster and evolving the company toward streaming. This is the first time there have been material missteps. If you look at the cumulative track record, itâ€™s extremely positive.”