Membership Numbers Are No Longer ReportedNarrow moat

Netflix (NFLX) — moat facet

Netflix stopped reporting its member count in 2025, so its pricing power can now be judged only by revenue.

For two decades the number of subscribers was Netflix's headline. No longer. "During the year ended December 31, 2025, we discontinued the reporting of membership numbers"1, including average paying memberships and average monthly revenue per membership. The last full regional table is for 20242.

Paid memberships at year end (millions)230.72022260.32023301.62024325+Q4 2025Netflix Form 10-K FY2024; Q4 2025 milestone from the Q4 2025 letter
The last full count was 301.6 million.

Netflix's argument is that revenue and engagement now matter more than a count, because the ads plan, extra members and price tiers make one membership unlike another. Since then it has offered only milestones: more than 325 million paid memberships in the fourth quarter of 20253, and an audience "approaching 1B people"4.

For a moat analysis the change is a loss. Pricing power is proven by raising prices without losing members, and the member count was the second half of that proof. Now only revenue is visible.

The change is not suspicious in itself; the business did grow memberships 16% in 202456. But it asks investors to trust the company more and check it less.

The change came alongside a new way of describing the audience. Netflix now says its audience is "approaching 1B people"7, a figure that counts viewers rather than paying accounts. It is a larger and friendlier number, and it cannot be checked against revenue the way paid memberships could.

What would restore confidence is simple: revenue growth that stays in double digits. Growth of 13.4% in the second quarter of 20268 is enough; a slide below 10% with no member count to explain it would leave investors guessing.

Moat trajectory: Narrowing

Membership and revenue-per-member reporting discontinued.

The number that tests this moat
Reported
Revenue growth, latest quarter
+13.4% to $12,560M (Q2 2026)

With memberships unreported, revenue is the only public test; a fall below 10% would be unexplained.

Source: Netflix Q2 2026 shareholder letter ↗
⚠ Threats to the moat
⚠ THREAT 01
Less Disclosure Means Less Proof
Netflix is publishing less about its members and their viewing just when investors most want to know whether both are still growing.
References
  1. Reported"During the year ended December 31, 2025, we discontinued the reporting of membership numbers", including average paying memberships and average monthly revenue per membership.
    Netflix Form 10-K for fiscal 2025 - Item 1 business and Item 7 overview: the single segment, pricing plans, Open Connect, employees and the end of membership reporting. — FY2025 · publ. 23 January 2026 · source ↗
  2. ReportedThe last full regional table is for 2024.
    Netflix Form 10-K for fiscal 2024 - paid memberships and average monthly revenue per paying membership by region for 2022-2024, regional revenue for 2022, and the 2024 currency impact. — FY2024 · publ. January 2025 · source ↗
  3. ReportedSince then it has offered only milestones: more than 325 million paid memberships in the fourth quarter of 2025, and an audience "approaching 1B people".
    Netflix fourth-quarter 2025 shareholder letter, Form 8-K exhibit 99.1 - 325 million paid memberships, 2026 guidance, advertising revenue, named competitors, content licensing and the pause in buybacks. — Q4 2025 · publ. 20 January 2026 · source ↗
  4. ReportedSince then it has offered only milestones: more than 325 million paid memberships in the fourth quarter of 2025, and an audience "approaching 1B people".
    Netflix second-quarter 2026 shareholder letter, Form 8-K exhibit 99.1 - quarterly results, regional revenue, 2026 guidance, view hours, live programming and advertising - programming, engagement, live events and product. — Q2 2026 · publ. 16 July 2026 · source ↗
  5. ReportedThe change is not suspicious in itself; the business did grow memberships 16% in 2024.
    Netflix Form 10-K for fiscal 2024 - paid memberships and average monthly revenue per paying membership by region for 2022-2024, regional revenue for 2022, and the 2024 currency impact. — FY2024 · publ. January 2025 · source ↗
  6. Moat Explorer calcThe change is not suspicious in itself; the business did grow memberships 16% in 2024.
    Moat Explorer calculation from Netflix's reported financial statements, shareholder letters and market data ($ millions unless stated). Content amortization / revenue: 14,026.1 / 31,615.6 = 44.4% (2022); 14,197.4 / 33,723.3 = 42.1% (2023); 15,301.5 / 39,001.0 = 39.2% (2024); 16,422.2 / 45,183.0 = 36.3% (2025); Q2 2026 4,311.3 / 12,559.9 = 34.3%. Revenue growth 2022-2025: 45,183.0 / 31,615.6 - 1 = 43%; 2025 45,183.0 / 39,001.0 - 1 = 15.9%. Operating income 13,326.6 / 5,632.8 = 2.4 times. Gross margin (45,183.0 - 23,275.3) / 45,183.0 = 48.5% (2025); (33,723.3 - 19,715.4) / 33,723.3 = 41.5% (2023). Q3 2025 operating margin excluding the Brazil charge (3,248 + 619) / 11,510 = 33.6%. Additions to content assets Q2 2026 4,927.5 / 3,835.8 - 1 = 28%. Cash content spend = additions less change in content liabilities: 16,839.0 - 179.3 = 16,659.7 (2022), 12,554.7 + 585.6 = 13,140.3 (2023), 16,223.6 + 779.1 = 17,002.8 (2024), 17,096.6 + 610.8 = 17,707.5 (2025); ratio to amortization 16,659.7 / 14,026.1 = 1.19, 13,140.3 / 14,197.4 = 0.93, 17,002.8 / 15,301.5 = 1.11, 17,707.5 / 16,422.2 = 1.08. Licensed share of amortization 8,713.6 / 16,422.2 = 53%; licensed growth 8,713.6 / 7,689.0 - 1 = 13.3%; produced growth 7,708.6 / 7,612.5 - 1 = 1.3%. Produced share of content assets 20,639.8 / 32,778.4 = 63%; content assets / amortization 32,778.4 / 16,422.2 = 2.0 years. Tax incentives / produced amortization 1,000 / 7,708.6 = 13%; tax incentives / operating income 1,000 / 13,326.6 = 7.5%. Employees outside UCAN 16,000 - 10,900 = 5,100. Capex / revenue 688.2 / 45,183.0 = 1.5%; capex growth 688.2 / 439.5 - 1 = 57%. Free cash flow = operating cash flow less capex: 10,149.3 - 688.2 = 9,461.1 (2025); 7,361.4 - 439.5 = 6,921.8 (2024); 7,274.3 - 348.6 = 6,925.7 (2023); FCF / revenue 9,461.1 / 45,183.0 = 20.9%; FCF / net income 9,461.1 / 10,981.2 = 86%; capex / FCF 348.6 / 6,925.7 = 5.0%, 439.5 / 6,921.8 = 6.4%, 688.2 / 9,461.1 = 7.3%. Buybacks / FCF 9,127.2 / 9,461.1 = 96%; buybacks 2024 + 2025 6,263.7 + 9,127.2 = 15,390.9; diluted shares 4,261 / 4,349 - 1 = -2.0%; remaining authorization 27.1 / 296.24 = 9%. Year-end P/E = market value / net income: 213.10 / 5.408 = 39.4 (2023), 381.00 / 8.712 = 43.7 (2024), 397.29 / 10.981 = 36.2 (2025), trailing 296.24 / 13.650 = 21.7. Net debt / equity end 2025 (14,462.8 - 9,033.7 - 28.7) / 26,615.5 = 0.20; interest / operating income 776.5 / 13,326.6 = 5.8%; termination fee / 2025 net income 2,800 / 10,981.2 = 25%; ROE 10,981.2 / ((26,615.5 + 24,743.6) / 2) = 43%; net income growth 10,981.2 / 8,711.6 - 1 = 26%. Pre-tax income 2025 10,981.2 + 1,741.4 = 12,722.6, one point of tax rate = 127; six points = 763. UCAN ARM 17.20 / 15.86 - 1 = 8.4%; UCAN net additions 80,128 - 74,296 = 5,832 (2023), 89,625 - 80,128 = 9,497 (2024); paid memberships growth 301,626 / 260,276 - 1 = 16%; top plan price 37 / 32 - 1 = 15.6%. Obligations: due in 12 months / revenue 11,528.0 / 45,183.0 = 25.5%; obligations / debt 25.1 / 14.3 = 1.75; off balance sheet 18.4 / 24.0 = 76% (end 2025), 19.6 / 25.1 = 78% (June 2026). Advertising: 1.5 / 45.2 = 3.3% of 2025 revenue; 3.0 / 51.2 = 5.9% of the 2026 guidance midpoint (51.0 + 51.4) / 2 = 51.2. Nielsen gap 13.8 - 8.0 = 5.8 points. Regions: 2025 shares UCAN 19,957.2 / 45,183.0 = 44.2%, EMEA 14,514.6 / 45,183.0 = 32.1%, LATAM 5,357.5 / 45,183.0 = 11.9%, APAC 5,353.7 / 45,183.0 = 11.8%; Q2 2026 UCAN 5,432 / 12,560 = 43.2%. UCAN growth 14,873.8 / 14,084.6 - 1 = 5.6% (2023), 17,359.4 / 14,873.8 - 1 = 16.7% (2024), 19,957.2 / 17,359.4 - 1 = 15.0% (2025). EMEA memberships 101,133 / 76,729 - 1 = 31.8%; APAC memberships 57,541 / 38,023 - 1 = 51.3%; APAC revenue 5,353.7 / 3,570.2 - 1 = 50%. UCAN share of 2022 streaming revenue 14,084.6 / 31,469.9 = 44.8%. Memberships 2022-2024: UCAN 89,625 / 74,296 - 1 = 20.6%, LATAM 53,327 / 41,699 - 1 = 27.9%. ARM gap UCAN less APAC 15.86 - 8.50 = 7.36 (2022), 17.20 - 7.29 = 9.91 (2024). H1 2026 revenue 24,809.7 / 51,200 = 48.5% of the guidance midpoint. Diluted shares 4,343,863 / 4,494,966 - 1 = -3.4%. Average buyback price Q2 2026 4.7bn / 52.93M shares = about $89; 2025 9,127.2 / 86.54M shares = about $105; 71.15 / 105 - 1 = -32%. Analyst target 92.93 / 71.15 - 1 = 31%. US revenue 18.5 / 13.8 - 1 = 34%. Hedging swing 124 - (-91) = 215. Revenue 2023-2025 45,183.0 / 33,723.3 - 1 = 34%; employees 16,000 / 13,000 - 1 = 23%. Q2 net income 3,401 / 3,125 - 1 = 8.8%. DVD revenue = total revenue less streaming revenue: 33,723.3 - 33,640.5 = 82.8 (2023); 31,615.6 - 31,469.9 = 145.7 (2022) - regional revenue, memberships and viewing share. — 2015-2026 · publ. September 2026 · source ↗
    Method: Arithmetic on figures reported in Netflix's Forms 10-K and 10-Q, shareholder letters, Nielsen's May 2026 Gauge and market data; operands shown in the source line.
  7. ReportedNetflix now says its audience is "approaching 1B people", a figure that counts viewers rather than paying accounts.
    Netflix second-quarter 2026 shareholder letter, Form 8-K exhibit 99.1 - quarterly results, regional revenue, 2026 guidance, view hours, live programming and advertising - programming, engagement, live events and product. — Q2 2026 · publ. 16 July 2026 · source ↗
  8. ReportedGrowth of 13.4% in the second quarter of 2026 is enough; a slide below 10% with no member count to explain it would leave investors guessing.
    Netflix second-quarter 2026 shareholder letter, Form 8-K exhibit 99.1 - quarterly results, regional revenue, 2026 guidance, view hours, live programming and advertising - financial results, regional revenue and 2026 guidance. — Q2 2026 · publ. 16 July 2026 · source ↗
Sources
Generated September 26, 2026