Netflix’s (NFLX) shares tumbled on Friday, as the company’s CEO acknowledged intensifying competition in the streaming media space.
In an interview with Variety published on Friday, Netflix’s co-founder and chief Reed Hastings said that November would mark “a whole new world” in an industry that it has dominated for years.
The CEO admitted that the company was bracing itself for a fierce fight against Disney and Apple, with both companies set to launch new streaming platforms that are more competitively priced than Netflix’s.
“It’ll be tough competition. Direct-to-consumer [customers] will have a lot of choice,” Hastings said, as the streaming wars move to their next phase.
Netflix’s stock traded on the Nasdaq, sank by more than 5% to the lower end of its 52 week range and its lowest since January.
This week, NBCUniversal (CMCSA) unveiled the official name of its streaming service, while WarnerMedia’s HBO Max (T) announced a mega deal for “The Big Bang Theory.” Meanwhile, Both Apple TV+ (AAPL) and Disney+ (DIS) are gearing up for November launches.
Yet Roku (ROKU), the latest streaming upstart to mount a challenge to Netflix, fared even worse, tumbling by around 12% in Friday’s session.
The stock extended this week’s sharp losses on the heels of a bearish call by Pivotal Research group, which issued a “sell” rating on Roku and warned that streaming costs were falling to “zero” as more competition to Netflix emerged.
Javier David is an editor for Yahoo Finance. Follow Javier on Twitter: @TeflonGeek
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