Netflix shares close higher on Thursday, 300 employees laid off as company seeks to reduce costs

Netflix Inc (NFLX) said on Thursday that it had laid off 300 employees, or approximately 4% of its workforce, in another round of job reductions meant to cut costs after the streaming company lost subscribers for the first time in more than ten years.

The decision, which has affected mostly the company’s workforce in the United States, follows another reduction of 150 jobs in May.

“While we continue to invest significantly in the business, we made these adjustments so that our costs are growing in line with our slower revenue growth,” the streaming service provider said in a statement.

Netflix shares closed higher for a second consecutive trading session on NASDAQ on Thursday. The stock went up 1.58% ($2.82) to $181.71, after touching an intraday low at $175.87 and an intraday high at $182.76 respectively.

The shares of Netflix Inc have retreated 69.84% so far in 2022 compared with a 20.36% loss for the benchmark index, S&P 500 (SPX).

In 2021, Netflix Inc’s stock went up 11.41%, thus, it again underperformed the S&P 500, which registered a 26.89% gain.

Analyst stock price forecast and recommendation

According to TipRanks, at least 26 out of 41 surveyed investment analysts had rated Netflix Inc’s stock as “Hold”, while 9 – as “Buy”. The median price target on the stock stands at $280.42.