A Wall Street analyst has suggested Netflix could lose up to 4 million premium subscribers in the US alone next year.
Laura Martin from Needham and Co downgraded the streaming platform’s stock to ‘underperform’ this week.
“We downgrade NFLX because it has consistently stated it will not have advertising, which we believe will result in U.S. sub losses,” wrote Martin, who is one of the widely followed analysts in the space.
Martin also pointed to increased competition from newcomers Disney+ and Apple TV+ as a source of concern for Netflix.
These rival SVOD services each cost slightly less per month than Netflix, as do Amazon Prime and Hayu, while US-based option Hulu offers an ad-supported tier.
“Netflix’s premium price tier of $US9 to $US16 per month is unsustainable,” Martin said, predicting a premium subscriber loss of up to 4 million.
She also tipped the loss of TV sitcoms such as “Friends” and ‘The Office’ to rivals to impact Netflix.
But Martin’s dire prediction for Netflix came at a time where the streaming service arguably justified its “premium price tier” like never before.
On Tuesday, Netflix secured 34 nominations for January’s Golden Globe awards, the most of any studio.
Of the five films nominated for Best Motion Picture in the drama category, three come thanks to Netflix (The Irishman, Marriage Story, and Two Popes).
One of Netflix’s newest rivals Apple TV+ managed to snare its first Golden Globe nomination with flagship series ‘The Morning Show’ receiving multiple nominations.
