(Reuters) -Netflix Inc on Thursday reported fewer-than-expected subscriber additions for the fourth quarter, highlighting the video-streaming pioneer’s struggles to attract users as pandemic restrictions ease and competition amps up.
Shares of the company were down nearly 10% in after-market trading.
The big lift to subscriber additions from the pandemic is waning as people, tired of being hunkered down at home, seek in-person entertainment. The superhero film “SpiderMan: No Way Home”, which hit theaters in mid-December, became the first pandemic-era movie to cross $1 billion at the global box office.
Netflix is also facing deep-pocketed rivals in the battle for streaming subscribers.
The company said it added 8.28 million subscribers in the three months ended Dec. 31. Analysts on average had expected additions of 8.39 million, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.
Netflix reported fourth-quarter revenue of $7.71 billion, in line with estimates of $7.71 billion.
(Reporting by Eva Mathews and Tiyashi Datta in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)
