• by Wayne Friedman , Yesterday

Netflix says 2026 estimated advertising for 2026 has been readjusted downward 10% to $2.7 billion.

In its original guidance, Netflix said it would reach $3.0 billion in ad revenues this year. The company says this is “due to slightly slower than expected rollout of some ad product capabilities”.

Overall revenues (subscription and advertising) grew 12% in the third-quarter period of 2026 to $12.9 billion. A year ago during the same period, revenue growth was 17%.

"While Netflix is growing, the pace of growth is slowing,” says Mike Proulx, vice president and research director of Forrester, adding: “That’s a wake-up call for the company that once defined the streaming market and is now in need of growth reacceleration.”

Proulx added: “And now there’s even more reason to question just how much of that growth can come from advertising, given the company just lowered its 2026 ad revenue forecast by 10%."

Third-quarter net income grew to $3.7 billion from $2.5 billion in the same year-ago period.

In the fourth quarter of this year, its guidance is that overall revenue will grow at a slightly slower rate of 11.5% (to $13.4 billion) versus the third quarter.

Netflix stock fell 6% in after-market trading to $64.95 when its financial results were released.

Netflix stock has been plagued with slow to slightly declining average viewing time per day per subscriber of around one hour and 20 minutes per day, according to industry estimates.

The company has reasserted that its live events and sports programming business continues to be a major part in pulling in new viewership -- for example, with the special NFL games.

Netflix stock has dropped 27% since the beginning of the year and down 45% over the past 12 months.