Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos yuks it up with Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld at a premiere earlier this year (Charley Gallay/Getty Images for Netflix)

Netflix’s record earnings help its stock keep rolling

A crackdown on password sharing, along with price hikes, keep boosting the bottom line. Shares are up after hours.

Matt Phillips

10/17/24 3:26PM

Streaming giant Netflix posted its biggest quarterly profit ever, up 41% in Q3 compared to last year, pushing the company’s shares up nearly 5% after hours. Earnings per share and revenue both beat Wall Street expectations.

The company’s stock hit a new all-time closing high of $722.79 on Wednesday, the result of a more than 40% romp in its price so far this year. That’s far outpaced the performance of comparable streaming and entertainment companies such as Disney, up about 7% in 2024, and Warner Brothers, which has been bludgeoned in the markets this year, losing more than 30%.

The excitement over Netflix has been justified, in part, by earnings reports like the one the Los Gatos, California, company just released, showing that it’s been able to sustainably boost profits to never-before-seen levels in recent quarters.

What’s driving the profits? At least in part, it’s been drawing on a price hike of its ad-free subscription tiers and cracking down on password sharing.

Netflix and Disney+ probably only added ad-tier subscribers this year, says Morgan Stanley

As streaming prices climb, ad-free subscribers are becoming a rarity.

Max Knoblauch12/18/25

BLOOD

MONEY

J. Edward Moreno12/17/25

Discount stores are having a moment in America, drawing high- and low-income consumers alike

Everyone loves a deal in 2025 — and Aldi, Walmart, and Dollar Tree are all cashing in.

Millie Giles12/17/25

Max Knoblauch12/16/25

Report: OpenAI won’t pay a dime in cash for its 3-year licensing deal for Disney IP

More financial details behind the landmark deal that will grant OpenAI three years of access to Disney intellectual property are coming out, and they’re pretty surprising.

The deal will reportedly see OpenAI pay zero dollars in licensing fees, instead compensating Disney in stock warrants. It was previously reported that Disney would invest $1 billion into OpenAI as part of the agreement.

It’s very abnormal for Disney to grant anyone access to its massive IP library without a cash payment, and the entertainment juggernaut has been known to strike down even crocheted Etsy Yodas for infringing on its turf. In its fiscal year 2025, Disney booked more than $10 billion in revenue from licensing fees across merchandising, television, and theatrical distribution.

OpenAI Deal to License Disney Characters Is Entirely in Stock

Max Knoblauch12/15/25

Ford says it will take $19.5 billion in charges in a massive EV write-down

The EV business has marked a long stretch of losing for Ford, and today the automaker announced it will take $19.5 billion in charges tied, for the most part, to its EV division.

Ford said it’s launching a battery energy storage business, leveraging battery plants in Kentucky and Michigan to “provide solutions for energy infrastructure and growing data center demand.”

According to Ford, the changes will drive Ford’s electrified division to profitability by 2029. The company will stop making its electric F-150, the Lightning, and instead shift to an “extended-range electric vehicle” that includes a gas-powered generator.

The Detroit automaker also raised its adjusted earnings before interest and taxes outlook to “about $7 billion” from a range of $6 billion to $6.5 billion.

Ford’s write-down is one of the largest taken by a company as legacy automakers scale back on EVs, giving EV-only automakers a market share boost.