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Netflix sinks following disappointing outlook as investors wait for more ad growth

Netflix shares are down more than 10% on Friday morning.

Streaming giant Netflix skidded more than 10% on Friday, on pace for its worst day since October 2025.

The announcement of cofounder Reed Hastings’ exit from the board in June, lower-than-expected Q2 guidance, and an unchanged annual outlook — despite the company’s exit from the Warner Bros. Discovery bidding war — appear to be driving the drop. As Citi analyst Jason Bazinet wrote in a Friday note:

“After large scale M&A was called off, investors suspected NFLX may increase its share repurchases and raise its FY26 margin outlook, which incorporated 50 bps of M&A expenses. In addition, some investors suspected the US price hike was previously not incorporated in the guide. However, management suggested no change to their capital allocation strategy, maintained FY26 outlook, and provided worse-than expected 2Q26 guidance.”

Unlike investors, analysts, for the most part, don’t appear too worried. JPMorgan reiterated its “overweight” rating and $118 price target, writing that Netflix “continues to execute well, with considerable growth headroom.”

Morgan Stanley similarly reiterated its “overweight” rating and $115 price target, writing that it expects the company’s recent price hikes and advertising revenue growth to land in the second half of the year.

As Morgan Stanley pointed out, Netflix on Thursday said its ad-supported tier now represents 60% of its new sign-ups (up from 50% in 2024) in the 12 countries where it’s offered. Netflix also said it now works with more than 4,000 advertisers, an increase of 70% from last year.

But, according to eMarketer Senior Analyst Ross Benes, that ad business — which Netflix still plans to grow to $3 billion this year — isn’t growing at the rate many first expected when it was launched:

“With the legacy media asset lifted off its shoulders, Netflix’s next challenge will be to truly diversify away from having subscriptions account for almost the entirety of its revenue. The continual subscription price increases bely how reliant Netflix is on subscription revenues and consumers continuing to stick around despite rising frustration for getting less bang for their buck. Ads is growing but not as to the rate marketers expected more than four years ago when the ad tier was launched. As the company enters a new era without Reed Hastings, advertising will play a bigger role. There's no better time to amplify an ads business than right now with the upfronts looming.”

Matt Phillips36m

With their recent surge, Intel shares just hit their highest level since the dot-com era

Intel’s surge of nearly 60% this month has the iconic American chipmaker’s stock price approaching levels last seen during the dot-com era. Bloomberg noted that shares just touched their highest intraday level since the turn of the century:

“The stock rose as much as 1.5% to $69.55, topping a peak it hit on Jan. 24, 2020. The shares are up 90% this year, after soaring 84% in 2025. Intel is now roughly 8% from its all-time closing high of $74.88, established on Aug. 31, 2000.”

That’s just the most recent late-’90s-era throwback we’ve been seeing in tech shares lately. Oracle is currently pacing for its best week since late 1999.

What’s even more remarkable, however, is that Intel’s forward price-to-earnings ratio today dwarfs the premiums the market was putting on the stock during the nuttiness of the dot-com mania.

That reflects the fact that the recent run-up in Intel shares is, essentially, giving the chip giant credit for a massive turnaround that hasn’t actually happened yet.

One also might wonder if the fact that Intel is partially owned by the US government means it’s more attractive — and therefore worth a higher premium — than other chipmakers without the state imprimatur.

Still, kind of startling.

J. Edward Moreno2h

Eli Lilly’s GLP-1 pill hit nearly 1,400 prescriptions in first week

Eli Lilly rose after preliminary numbers cited by Wall Street analysts showed strong uptake of its new weight-loss pill.

The FDA approved Foundayo on April 1 and shipments began on April 9. In its first week, roughly 1,400 US prescriptions were written for the drug, according to IQVIA data cited by Deustche Bank analysts in a Friday note.

Novo Nordisk, Lilly’s rival in the GLP-1 market, released its GLP-1 pill earlier this year, and early signs show that it’s expanding the market, inviting patients who were turned off by weekly injections. Novo’s pill had a stronger first week than Lilly’s, with its Wegovy pill hitting 3,071 US prescriptions in the first four days after its launch on January 5.

Lilly’s pill has an advantage over Novo’s, which is that it can be taken at any time of day, with or without food. Lilly disclosed in a February regulatory filing that it had $1.5 billion worth of prelaunch inventory ready ahead of the FDA approval — which is about as much as analysts polled by FactSet expect it to sell this year.

Eli Lilly makes the world’s bestselling drug. Can it keep the party going?

Claire Yubin Oh3h

Critical Metals jumps after Greenland’s government approves CRML to take majority control of the Tanbreez mining project

Critical Metals is up more than 25% in premarket trading on Friday after the critical mining company announced that it now owns 92.5% of the Tanbreez rare earth deposit following an approval from the government of Greenland.

With that latest government support, Critical Minerals added an additional 50.5% stake to its ownership, reportedly acquired from Rimbal Pty Ltd, per Bloomberg News. With access to eight heavy rare earth elements often used in consumer electronics and defense, the site is one of the world’s largest undeveloped rare earth deposits and a key source of rare earth supply outside of China, according to the company.

In Critical Metals’ press release, Chairman Tony Sage commented that the approval “removes the most significant structural overhang on the project and provides the clarity to advance Tanbreez to production with confidence,” especially as Tanbreez’s location offers a significant logistical advantage through its year-round direct shipping access, compared to rival projects.

With 92.5% of the project now vested in Critical Metals Corp., and the remainder owned by European Lithium Ltd., CRML now has full control of the project and is seeking to accelerate development there, with plans for a new international airport and a “150-tonne bulk sample program,” which is slated for June 2026.

Matt Phillips

Oil plunges and stocks jump as Trump and Iranian foreign minister say Strait of Hormuz is open, though uncertainty remains

Citing Israel-Lebanon agreement, Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi said on social media that the strait is “completely open for the remaining period of ceasefire.” President Trump confirmed the news shortly thereafter.

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Netflix beats on Q1 revenue, issues downbeat Q2 forecast, and says Hastings will leave in June

It’s the streamer’s first earnings report since backing out of the Warner Bros. bidding war in February.

Max Knoblauch20h