Netflix CEO: Sorry We Made A Forecasting Error, Future Is Still Bright

Sorry, Netflix, but a “forecast error” on your part doesn’t make your numbers look any better. Netflix CEO Reed Hastings and CFO David Wells spoke with investors on Tuesday about third quarter earnings. According to Hastings, numbers were not bad; forecasts by the company were just incorrectly tabulated.

Speaking to investors, Hastings said growth was “within the range of guidance from a year ago, although not from Q1.” According to Hastings, the problem surrounded a “forecasting error” rather than a result of stunted growth overall.

Netflix did manage to pull in more users in Q3, adding 1.16 million new subscribers, a big miss compared to the company’s forecast of 1.8 million subscribers. Netflix’s biggest gains however came from new markets in Europe, South America, and other regions.

Year to date, Netflix has added just over five million US subscribers. While that growth isn’t bad, Netflix lowered its forecast by two million subscribers. It was the two million subscriber drop off that Hastings was referring to with his “forecasting error” statement.

Hastings further explains that Netflix “made substantial progress and feels good about its original content additions, in particular Arrested Development.”

Netflix now hopes that the younger demographic for the show Arrested Development will draw viewers back to the platform after they fled during the company’s Qwikster fiasco.

The video streaming service in its letter to investors continued to claim its lead in the video subscription business by pointing out its exclusive deals in comparison to Amazon, Hulu, HBO, and other networks.

Do you think Netflix will eventually recover to its former glory days?