Netflix stock price tumbles into bear market

Getty/Scott Olson

• Netflix shares were down more than 4% Monday morning.
• At session lows, they were down 20.5% from their June high — making it a bear market.
• Shares have been unable to recover following a disappointing second-quarter earnings report.
• Watch Netflix trade in real time here. 

Netflix shares were under pressure Monday, trading down more than 4% at $340.58 apiece. At their session low of $336.30, they were down 20.5% from their June 21 high — officially entering a bear market. They’re on track to close at their lowest level since May 23.

Monday’s selling comes as shares have struggled to recover in the wake of Netflix’s second-quarter results that missed Wall Street estimates for revenue and subscriber additions. The streaming giant said it added 5.1 million subscribers during the quarter, well short of the 6.3 million addition that was expected. Revenue of $3.91 billion just missed the Wall Street consensus of $3.94 billion. 

Following the results, Michael Pachter, the biggest Netflix bear on Wall Street, said he wasn’t surprised by the quarter. “They’re in a vicious spiral to the bottom in content spend,” he told Business Insider.

“I don’t think the quantity is sufficient to support the service on a stand alone basis,” he said. “Four out of five shows are going to be bad.”

He added that he doesn’t seen a path to Netflix being free-cash-flow positive without raising prices from the current $10.99 a month to about $20. 

Netflix shares were up 86% this year through Friday. 

Markets Insider