Netflix shares slide as Q3 forecast misses, firm scales back viewership reports

Netflix shares fell in after-hours trading on Wednesday after the streaming giant issued a third-quarter revenue and profit forecast that fell short of Wall Street's expectations. The miss revived investor concerns about slowing subscriber growth as competition from rivals such as Disney+, Max and Amazon Prime Video continues to intensify across the industry.

Alongside the forecast, Netflix said it would reduce the frequency of its closely watched "What We Watched" engagement reports, which have given analysts, advertisers and rival studios a rare window into which shows and films draw the most viewing hours worldwide. Company executives offered little explanation for the change beyond saying the reports would now be published less often.

The disappointing outlook added to a difficult week for major technology and media stocks, as investors weighed rising content production costs against a maturing streaming market where subscriber growth is increasingly hard to sustain. Shares of other streaming and media companies also came under pressure following Netflix's announcement.