📺 Investors paused on Netflix

Netflix did good, but it wasn't enough for investors | The UK's latest results could throw the central bank off | [Finimize](   TOGETHER WITH     Hi {NAME}, here's what you need to know for April 20th in 3:14 minutes.   🥳 You might be jam-packed this weekend, what with [bitcoin's halving](, 4/20 celebrations, and essential prep days for National Jelly Bean Day – yes, really. But when you come back on Monday morning, it's time to get your business busy instead: [talk to us about our promotional solutions](. Today's big stories - Netflix’s smooth results weren’t enough to stop its stock from buffering - Signals in the market have started to shift from greed to fear – [Read Now]( - The UK’s drab announcement might cause some drama for the central bank Sharing Is Daring [Sharing Is Daring] What’s going on here? Netflix’s crackdown on password sharing might have caused family fights and turned amicable breakups into full-on feuds, but the results were worth it. What does this mean? Over 100 million households were thought to be sharing accounts with loved ones away from home, so blocking them from tuning in brought in more than 9 million new subscribers, far above what analysts expected. As a result, Netflix’s revenue was 15% higher last quarter than the same time last year, and the firm’s profit rose by an expectation-beating 83%. Yet, the stock dipped after the results. The blame might partly lie on Netflix’s forecast for sales for this quarter, which landed slightly below Wall Street’s expectations. Plus, it won’t have helped that the firm said it’ll no longer report on analysts’ favorite metric, subscriber numbers. Mind you, that came after Netflix’s stock increased 76% in the last six months, the fourth-best performance in the S&P 500. Why should I care? For you personally: You’re now watching “The Economy”. Netflix looks to be set up nicely, with a continuous flow of often exclusive content and profit margins that now sit at 25%. In fact, the streaming company could likely keep its revenue growth in the double-digits for years. The main wildcard is the economy. A downturn could squeeze customers and make them cancel their subscriptions. And if inflation picks up, Netflix would struggle to raise prices without scaring off users. Plus, Netflix’s decision to stop sharing subscriber numbers will put more emphasis on advertising revenue – income that could be sliced in a downturn. The bigger picture: One streamer’s trash is another’s treasure. The streaming business is tough going: each subscriber only counts for a tiny pinch of revenue, while company costs are anything but small. So it’s no wonder that rivals like Disney are still reporting major losses, then. That’s working out for Netflix, though: more entertainment companies are selling their content to the streaming service to make quick cash. You might also like: [Investing in the Nasdaq](. Copy to share story: [( 🙋 [Ask a question](mailto:questions@finimize.com?body=Ask us a question: Where are you writing from? Let us know and we'll mention it when we reply.&noapp=true&subject=Sharing Is Daring&utm_campaign=daily-global-20-04-2024&utm_source=email) Analyst Take Stock Investors Have Been Going All-In, But That’s Changing [Stock Investors Have Been Going All-In, But That’s Changing]( By Russell Burns, Analyst If you’ve ever played poker, you know it’s a lot easier to play the right cards when you can see what everyone else has in their hands. That’s true in investing too: catching a glimpse of what other folks are holding can inform [how you play the game](. Luckily, positioning data can give you that. That’s today’s Insight: [what stock investors are holding and what it means for your portfolio](. [Read or listen to the Insight here]( SPONSORED BY PROSPERO.AI Don’t tell the hedge funds… Hedge funds have a habit of keeping their best analysis tactics to themselves. So they may be giving [Prospero.Ai]( the side eye: the company uses AI analytics tools to turn millions of data points into [ten key stock market signals](, visualizing [where institutions are making bets](. Then, Prospero shares strategies to leverage those signals with its newsletter subscribers for free. The investing newsletter picks [beat the S&P 500 by around 50% in 2022 and 2023](, and by [160% so far this year](. Prospero is designed to complement your investing style, not replace it, so you can keep your current strategy while [incorporating the picks]( that you’re drawn to. That’s institutional-level intelligence for free, with [the Prospero newsletter](. [Discover The Free Newsletter]( When you support our sponsors, you support us. Thanks for that. If you want your brand featured here, [get in touch.]( Bland And Under-Deliver [Bland And Under-Deliver] What’s going on here? UK retail sales had a relatively small target to live up to, but they still [fell]( flat in March. What does this mean? Retail sales data pretty much does what it says on the tin, tracking the amount of goods that folk buy to indicate the health of consumer confidence and spending. Well in the UK, that indicator was flashing amber: retail sales were flat from February to March, falling below the market’s expectation of a 0.3% increase. See, while shoppers handed over more cash in hardware stores, furniture shops, gas stations, and clothing stores in March than in February, that was offset by drop-offs in food shops and department stores. The good news is that retail sales increased over the whole quarter, thanks to January’s strong stats – enough to put the retail recession behind Brits. Why should I care? Zooming in: Here comes the headache. That data will make the Bank of England’s (BoE) interest rate discussions a lot more complicated. After salaries increased and a national tax was decreased, economists had expected consumer spending to tick upward. So the fact that it didn’t might indicate that the recent rise in unemployment wasn’t based on unreliable data, after all, and is forcing folk to keep their wallets shut. That could persuade the BoE to cut interest rates to stimulate the economy. But at the same time, this week’s hotter-than-expected inflation release will push it in the opposite direction. The bigger picture: Write your bets in pencil. Economists are predicting anywhere from two to four 0.25% cuts this year, seemingly adjusting their bets with each contradictory bit of data. And while any interest rate cut would probably help stocks, investors will be hoping for a decent trim. UK companies are trading for cheap, see, and it’ll take a solid economic recovery to light a rally in the market. You might also like: [UK stocks are cheap, but they’re starting to get noticed.]( Copy to share story: [( 🙋 [Ask a question](mailto:questions@finimize.com?body=Ask us a question: Where are you writing from? Let us know and we'll mention it when we reply.&noapp=true&subject=Bland And Under-Deliver&utm_campaign=daily-global-20-04-2024&utm_source=email) 💬 Quote of the day "What I like to drink most is wine that belongs to others." – Diogenes (a Greek philosopher) [Tweet this]( SPONSORED BY GRAYSCALE When it comes to crypto, you need a specialist [Crypto]( has been grabbing more than its fair share of attention this year. No wonder: [bitcoin]( hit its highest price ever – above $73,000 per coin – this March. [Grayscale]( is the world’s biggest crypto asset manager*, with over a decade of experience operating crypto-focused funds. The company is on a mission to “transform disruptive technologies of the future into investment opportunities today.” So far, so good: Grayscale manages a suite of [different crypto investment products]( spanning single-asset, multi-asset, and thematic exposures. [Discover the specialist when it comes to crypto investments](. [Find Out More]( *Based on AUM as of 3/31/2024 DisclosuresPast performance is not indicative of future results. Investing involves risk and possible loss of principal. Visit Grayscale.com for important risk disclosures. When you support our sponsors, you support us. Thanks for that. If you want your brand featured here, [get in touch.]( Folk are looting their retirement savings in record numbers. And they're not spending it on cruises and golf lessons: in a worrying trend, [they're covering emergency expenses](. [Read The Quicktake]( 🎯 On Our Radar 1. Oversized baggage alert. The biggest snakes to ever exist [might not even fit on a plane](. 2. Preparing for real-world investing. Discover [the theoretical elements of investing and portfolio construction](.* 3. Tarantino promised he’d only make ten films. The legendary movie-maker [might be ready for number eleven](. 4. AI isn't new. Here's [what investors need to know]( about its evolution – and its future.** 5. Not everyone has an inner monologue. Here’s what it means if [your inner self talks to you](. **Your capital is at risk. 68% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money. When you support our sponsors, you support us. Thanks for that. 🌍 Finimize Live 🤩 Grab your tickets... 🚀 [2024 Modern Investor Summit](: 2pm UK time, December 3rd ❤️ Share with a friend Thanks for reading {NAME}. If you liked today's brief, we'd love for you to share it with a friend. You stay classy, {NAME} 😉 We’d love to hear your thoughts. [Give feedback]( Want to advertise with us too? 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