Netflix yesterday released its earnings report for the quarter gone by and revealed absolutely jaw-dropping growth. Over the last three months, the streaming giant managed to add 8.33 million new subscribers, easily besting Wall St. estimates which fell in and around the 6.3 million range.
Revenue for the quarter checked in at $3.29 billion, a figure which also bested analyst estimates by a wide margin. Also interesting, though, is the revelation that the sexual assault scandal involving House of Cards star Kevin Spacey cost the company $39 million. Though Netflix didn’t reference the scandal outright, its earnings report included a charge of $39 million due to “unreleased content we’ve decided not to move forward with.”
Sources familiar with the matter subsequently told Reuters that the blurb above stems from Netflix ceasing production on the sixth season of House of Cards and the decision not to move forward with Gore, a biopic about Gore Vidal with Spacey in the lead role.
In a post-earnings webcast, Netflix Chief Financial Officer David Wells said that while write-downs happened regularly, “we just hadn’t had one of this magnitude and related to the societal reset around sexual harassment.”
As for the future of House of Cards on Netflix, word is that the hit show will resume without Spacey’s involvement and will focus on the Presidency of Claire Underwood, played by Robin Wright.
The Spacey scandal aside, investors reacted favorably to Netflix’s strong earnings report with shares of the company shooting up 10% in trading on Tuesday.
