Netflix Earnings Preview: NFLX Stock Near 52-Week Low Ahead of Q2 Report

Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX) will report second-quarter 2026 earnings after the market close on Thursday, July 16, in a print investors are watching closely after the streaming giant’s shares have tumbled roughly 40% from their April highs.

Shares of Netflix last traded around $73.86, hovering just above their 52-week low of $70.86 and well below both the 50-day ($82.41) and 200-day ($94.94) moving averages, according to data compiled by Yahoo Finance.

The stock’s steep pullback stands in contrast to a still-bullish Wall Street: analysts carry an average rating of 4.12 out of 5, with 25 Strong Buy, 7 Buy, 16 Hold, zero Sell, and just one Strong Sell rating. The average price target sits near $113 — implying substantial upside from current levels.

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Adding to the pressure, a Wall Street Journal report published July 9 revealed that Netflix executives are exploring live, continuously-streamed TV channels and third-party app bundling — including NBCUniversal’s Peacock — as the company grapples with a “quiet decline” in viewer engagement.

The Journal cited Nielsen data showing Netflix’s U.S. television viewership share slipped to a multi-year low of 7.8% in April. Netflix shares dipped roughly 2% in after-hours trading following the report, underscoring investor sensitivity to any signs of slowing engagement heading into earnings.

Per Yahoo Finance, Wall Street’s consensus calls for second-quarter revenue of $12.57 billion, up 13.5% year-over-year, matching Netflix’s own guidance, with earnings per share of $0.79.

Netflix has projected an operating margin of 32.6% for the quarter. Notably, Netflix missed consensus estimates in the most recently reported quarter by nearly 8%, and has missed two of its last four quarters.

Coming into Thursday’s report, Netflix has reaffirmed full-year revenue guidance of $50.7–$51.7 billion and a 31.5% operating margin target, while raising its 2026 free-cash-flow outlook to roughly $12.5 billion — partly boosted by termination-fee proceeds tied to its exit from the Warner Bros. Discovery bidding process.

Investors will focus on whether pricing increases and advertising growth, where ad-tier monthly active users have surpassed 250 million, can offset peak content-amortization costs this quarter, and whether management can reassure the market on engagement trends after the WSJ report reignited concerns about subscriber retention and the company’s core streaming model.