Netflix Defends Streaming Focus After Layoffs, Executive Exits

Netflix's third-quarter revenue rose 12% year over year to $12.9 billion, and net income climbed 48% to nearly $3.7 billion, the company reported Tuesday on its earnings call, according to NBC News. The numbers landed a week after the streamer cut roughly 1,000 jobs, or 6% of its workforce, and removed three senior content executives, and co-CEOs Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters used the call to tell investors the company's strategy has not changed.

What did Netflix report for the third quarter?

The revenue and profit figures Netflix disclosed Tuesday show growth accelerating even as the company absorbed its largest round of layoffs in years, NBC News reported. Co-CEO Greg Peters told investors on the call that engagement in the U.S. remains "solid" and will let the company keep growing as it has over the past several years, while adding that Netflix knows it "can do better." Netflix did not break out a specific subscriber count for the quarter in the material reviewed, but the company says it still serves more than 325 million subscribers worldwide, according to NBC News.

Why did Netflix cut 1,000 jobs and remove top content executives?

The layoffs, which hit roughly 6% of Netflix's staff, came alongside the ousters of Chief Content Officer Bela Bajaria and film executives Dan Lin and Doug Belgrad, NBC News reported. Peters framed the moves as a business decision rather than a retreat from content spending.

"We believe we have a responsibility to make hard trade-offs in service of our members, our partners, our employees, our investors and ultimately our long-term growth," Peters said on the call, describing the thinking behind the cuts, according to NBC News.

Sarandos, for his part, used the call to restate the company's identity to investors rattled by the reshuffle. "Reminder, we are a streaming-first business. That is our core," Sarandos said, according to NBC News — a line aimed directly at concerns that Netflix's recent moves into live sports, video podcasts and gaming signal a drift away from its original programming strategy.

How has Netflix's stock performed over the past year?

Netflix shares have fallen sharply over the past 12 months, from $124.14 in October 2025 to $68.69 on Tuesday, NBC News reported, a decline the outlet attributed to slowing revenue growth. That drop forms the backdrop for Tuesday's call: strong headline earnings numbers delivered by a management team that has also been cutting staff and changing leadership, trying to convince shareholders that the stock's slide reflects growth concerns rather than deeper problems with the business.

What are executives telling investors about Netflix's growth plans?

Both co-CEOs stuck to a consistent message Tuesday: the core streaming business is healthy, and the recent personnel changes are meant to sharpen execution rather than signal a strategic pivot. Peters' comment that the company can "do better" on engagement, paired with Sarandos' insistence that streaming remains the company's core, amounts to an argument that Netflix is tightening its content organization rather than retreating from it. Neither executive, per the material reviewed, offered new subscriber guidance or specific targets tied to the reorganization.

How does competition from YouTube factor into Netflix's results?

Netflix remains the largest subscription streaming service globally, with more than 325 million subscribers, NBC News reported, but the company has struggled to grow user engagement as YouTube takes up more viewing time. That competitive pressure is part of why Netflix has pushed into live sports, video podcasts and gaming over the past several quarters — an expansion strategy that sits somewhat in tension with Sarandos' Tuesday reminder that streaming video is still the company's core business. The earnings call did not resolve that tension so much as restate it: Netflix is growing revenue and profit while diversifying its offerings, cutting staff, and replacing content leadership, all at the same time.

For investors, the open question heading into the next quarter is whether the layoffs and leadership changes Sarandos and Peters defended Tuesday translate into the engagement gains Peters said the company needs, or whether the stock's year-long slide continues regardless of quarterly revenue growth.