Netflix Loses 800K Customers

As stock plunges, CEO blames Tea Party, Occupy Wall St.
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 25, 2011 4:23 AM CDT
Netflix Loses 800K Customers
"We are going to pause and restore our global profitability," Hastings promised.   (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

The horror movie isn't over for Netflix shareholders. The company, facing a customer revolt over price hikes, posted third-quarter results that were even worse than expected, Bloomberg reports. The company has lost around 800,000 subscribers since June, leaving it with 23.8 million, when it had predicted that numbers would swell to 25 million. The company's stock, which peaked just short of $300 a share in July, plunged 27% to $87 after the results were announced.

Netflix warned that it will probably make a loss in 2012 because of the costs of expansion into UK and Ireland. CEO Reed Hastings says the company is guilty of "moving too quickly," but he has no plans to resign, the New York Times reports. Hastings says he blames the hostile reaction to Netflix's price hikes on the angry mood sweeping the US, citing the Tea Party and Occupy Wall Street movements. (And speaking of Occupy Wall Street...)

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