Netflix Q3 2026 Earnings: Revenue in Line With Its Own Forecast, Profit Ahead of It
Netflix reported $12.87 billion in revenue for the third quarter of 2026, in line with its own $12.86 billion forecast, and a 34.6% operating margin, above the 33.2% it expected. It now expects 2026 revenue of $51.1 billion, inside the $51.0 billion to $51.4 billion range it gave in July.
The short answer. Netflix, the streaming service with over 325 million paid memberships at the end of 2025, reported its third quarter 2026 results on October 20. By our count, its sales have now landed within 1.7% of its own forecast for 14 quarters in a row. This time profit also came in ahead of plan, which Netflix puts down mainly to the timing of expenses. For 2026 it now expects about $2.7 billion from ads, against about $3 billion in July, while subscriptions are doing better than it expected.
Netflix Q3 2026 results against its own forecast
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Netflix Q3 2026 earnings results
Netflix took in $12.87 billion in the quarter. About a third of it was left as operating profit, what remains after the costs of running the business and before interest and taxes.
Revenue grew 11.8% from $11.51 billion in Q3 2025, according to Netflix’s Q3 2026 letter to shareholders. Operating income, the profit from running the business before interest and taxes, was $4.46 billion.
Netflix shares closed the regular session at $68.69 on October 20. In after-hours trading they were at $65.97 at 4:20 p.m. ET, 4.0% lower, according to StockTitan price data.
StockTitan carries the full letter on its Netflix third quarter 2026 results page.
Diluted earnings per share were $0.87, against the $0.82 Netflix had forecast. The year earlier figure in the table below already reflects the ten for one stock split Netflix made in November 2025.
The year earlier margin of 28.2% included a $619 million expense tied to a tax dispute in Brazil, as the third quarter 2025 letter explained. Without that expense, by our count, the margin a year earlier would have been about 33.6%, against 34.6% now.
Show the data
| Category | Value |
|---|---|
| Q1 24 | $9.37B |
| Q2 24 | $9.56B |
| Q3 24 | $9.82B |
| Q4 24 | $10.25B |
| Q1 25 | $10.54B |
| Q2 25 | $11.08B |
| Q3 25 | $11.51B |
| Q4 25 | $12.05B |
| Q1 26 | $12.25B |
| Q2 26 | $12.56B |
| Q3 26 | $12.87B |
| Measure | Q3 2026 | Netflix forecast | Q3 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $12,874M | $12,860M | $11,510M |
| Revenue growth from a year earlier | 11.8% | 11.7% | 17.2% |
| Operating income | $4,459M | $4,268M | $3,248M |
| Operating margin | 34.6% | 33.2% | 28.2% |
| Net income | $3,664M | $3,452M | $2,547M |
| Diluted earnings per share | $0.87 | $0.82 | $0.59 |
Source: Netflix Q3 2026 letter to shareholders (actuals and the Q3 2025 column) and its Q2 2026 letter (the forecast column), summary tables. Figures are GAAP, in millions of US dollars except per share data.
Did Netflix beat its own forecast?
Sales landed almost exactly on what Netflix had forecast three months earlier, 0.11% above it. The share of each sales dollar left as operating profit was higher than planned.
Netflix publishes a forecast for the next quarter in every letter. In its Q2 2026 letter, it expected revenue of $12.86 billion and an operating margin of 33.2% for the third quarter of 2026.
The letter puts it this way: “Q3 revenue grew 12% year over year (11% on a F/X neutral basis) to $12.9B, consistent with our forecast.” On profit it says: “Operating margin was 34.6%, up from 28.2% in Q3’25 and ahead of our forecast primarily due to the timing of expenses.”
By our count from its letters, revenue landed within 1.7% of the forecast in each of the 14 quarters from Q2 2023 to Q3 2026. It came in above the forecast 11 times and below it 3 times.
This quarter’s gap, 0.11%, is about the same as the second quarter’s, and the two are the smallest of the 14. In a typical earlier quarter, the middle of the 13 earlier gaps, revenue landed about 0.8% away from the forecast, or about $8 for every $1,000 of sales Netflix expected.
The operating margin came in at or above the forecast in 13 of those 14 quarters. The exception was the third quarter of 2025, when the $619 million Brazilian tax expense pushed the margin below the forecast.
Show the data
| Category | Change |
|---|---|
| Q2 23 | -0.67% |
| Q3 23 | +0.26% |
| Q4 23 | +1.62% |
| Q1 24 | +1.41% |
| Q2 24 | +0.72% |
| Q3 24 | +1.01% |
| Q4 24 | +1.17% |
| Q1 25 | +1.22% |
| Q2 25 | +0.40% |
| Q3 25 | -0.14% |
| Q4 25 | +0.76% |
| Q1 26 | +0.76% |
| Q2 26 | -0.11% |
| Q3 26 | +0.11% |
Show the data
| Category | Change |
|---|---|
| Q2 23 | +3.3 pts |
| Q3 23 | +0.2 pts |
| Q4 23 | +3.6 pts |
| Q1 24 | +1.9 pts |
| Q2 24 | +0.6 pts |
| Q3 24 | +1.5 pts |
| Q4 24 | +0.6 pts |
| Q1 25 | +3.5 pts |
| Q2 25 | +0.8 pts |
| Q3 25 | -3.3 pts |
| Q4 25 | +0.6 pts |
| Q1 26 | +0.2 pts |
| Q2 26 | +0.8 pts |
| Q3 26 | +1.4 pts |
Netflix guidance for Q4 2026 and full year 2026
Netflix now expects $51.1 billion of sales for 2026, a little below the middle of the range it gave three months ago.
For the fourth quarter of 2026, Netflix forecasts revenue of $13.44 billion, up 11.5% from a year earlier, and an operating margin of 26.0%. In its second quarter 2026 letter, Netflix described its guidance, the forecast it publishes, as “our actual internal forecast at the time we report.”
Netflix says that fourth quarter margin forecast includes the cost of job cuts it recently announced, which lowers the margin by about 1.2 points.
Growth has slowed each quarter this year. The letter’s table shows revenue growth of 16.2% in the first quarter, 13.4% in the second and 11.8% in the third.
For the full year, the letter gives revenue of $51.1 billion, 0.2% below the middle of the $51.0 billion to $51.4 billion range it gave in July.
It keeps its forecast of a 31.5% operating margin for 2026, which includes about 0.3 points of cost from the same job cuts.
Netflix now expects free cash flow, the cash left after running the business and buying equipment, of about $12.0 billion for 2026, against about $12.5 billion before. The letter puts the change down mainly to a real estate transaction it expects to close in the fourth quarter.
For the rest of the year, the letter lists new seasons of The Diplomat, Nobody Wants This and Lupin, and the series finale of Emily in Paris. Netflix also has three NFL games on Thanksgiving Eve and Christmas Day.
| Forecast | Q2 2026 letter | Q3 2026 letter |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue, Q4 2026 | n/a | $13.44B |
| Operating margin, Q4 2026 | n/a | 26.0% |
| Revenue, full year 2026 | $51.0B to $51.4B | $51.1B |
| Ad revenue, full year 2026 | about $3B | about $2.7B |
| Operating margin, full year 2026 | 31.5% | 31.5% |
| Free cash flow, full year 2026 | about $12.5B | about $12.0B |
Source: Netflix Q2 2026 and Q3 2026 letters to shareholders. Free cash flow is a company measure outside GAAP rules: cash from operations minus purchases of property and equipment.
Netflix ad revenue forecast for 2026
Netflix now expects about $2.7 billion from ads in 2026, down from about $3 billion. It says money from subscriptions grew faster than it expected.
The third quarter letter gives the reason for the lower ad figure as a “slightly slower than expected rollout of some ad product capabilities”. It also says subscription revenue growth “has outperformed our expectations”.
Ads are still a small part of the business. By our count, about $2.7 billion would be about 5% of the $51.1 billion in revenue Netflix expects for 2026.
Netflix also plans to offer its plan with ads in more countries. The letter says it will bring it to 15 new countries in 2027. The first launches come in March 2027: nine countries in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, plus Colombia, Peru and New Zealand.
On what drove revenue growth in the quarter, the letter says: “In Q3, revenue growth was driven primarily by subscription revenue, reflecting increases in memberships and pricing, growth in advertising revenue and a favorable impact from F/X rates, net of hedging.”
Did Netflix raise prices in 2026?
Yes. Netflix raised prices in several countries in 2026, including the US, and says members reacted the way it expected.
In its second quarter letter, Netflix named the US, Mexico and Spain among the markets where it changed prices in the first half of 2026.
The third quarter letter says: “Member response to our 2026 price increases is consistent with prior price changes and our expectations”. The letter does not give the new prices.
How we counted
Each Netflix letter to shareholders ends its summary table with a forecast column for the next quarter. We compared that column with the actual figures the next letter reported, for every quarter from Q2 2023 to Q3 2026, 14 quarters in all. The revenue gap is the actual revenue minus the forecast, divided by the forecast. The margin gap is the actual operating margin minus the forecast margin, in percentage points, so a margin of 33.4% against a forecast of 32.6% is 0.8 points above.
Actual figures are taken from the letter that first reported each quarter. The revenue, margin and earnings per share comparisons use GAAP figures as Netflix reports them; free cash flow is a company measure outside GAAP. The record starts with Q2 2023 because its forecast is in the oldest letter we read, the first quarter 2023 letter. The 1.7% is the largest gap seen in that window, rounded up, and not a standard Netflix sets. Margins are the rounded percentages Netflix prints in its summary tables, so a gap can differ by about a tenth of a point from one computed from the dollar figures.
The letters used: Q1 2023, Q2 2023, Q3 2023, Q4 2023, Q1 2024, Q2 2024, Q3 2024, Q4 2024, Q1 2025, Q2 2025, Q3 2025, Q4 2025, Q1 2026, Q2 2026, Q3 2026.
Frequently asked questions
Did Netflix beat earnings this quarter?
Netflix reported revenue of $12.87 billion for Q3 2026, in line with the $12.86 billion it had forecast. Earnings per share were $0.87, against a forecast of $0.82. This page measures results against the forecast Netflix publishes in each letter.
What is Netflix’s revenue guidance for 2026?
In its third quarter 2026 letter, Netflix expects 2026 revenue of $51.1 billion and an operating margin of 31.5%. In July it had forecast revenue of $51.0 billion to $51.4 billion.
How much ad revenue does Netflix expect in 2026?
In its third quarter 2026 letter, Netflix says it now expects about $2.7 billion of ad revenue in 2026, against about $3 billion before. It gives the reason as a slower than expected rollout of some ad product capabilities.
Did Netflix buy Warner Bros.?
No. In its first quarter 2026 letter, Netflix said it declined to raise its offer for Warner Bros. It received a $2.8 billion termination fee, recorded in the first quarter of 2026.
Does Netflix still report subscriber numbers?
Not every quarter. Since its first quarter 2025 results, Netflix announces paid memberships only when it crosses key milestones, as its fourth quarter 2024 letter said it would. Its fourth quarter 2025 letter reported over 325 million paid memberships.
Where can I follow Netflix news on StockTitan?
StockTitan’s Netflix overview page gathers the company’s news, filings and financial data, and the Netflix financials page holds its reported results by quarter.
Sources
- StockTitan: Netflix Reports Q3 2026 Earnings (full letter to shareholders)
- StockTitan: Netflix overview
- StockTitan: Netflix financials
- StockTitan: Netflix to Announce Third Quarter 2026 Financial Results
- StockTitan: Earnings Calendar for the Week of October 19, 2026
- Netflix Q3 2026 letter to shareholders
- Netflix Q2 2026 letter to shareholders
- Netflix Form 8-K filings on SEC EDGAR, each with that quarter’s letter to shareholders
- Netflix third quarter 2025 letter to shareholders
- Netflix first quarter 2026 letter to shareholders
- Netflix fourth quarter 2025 letter to shareholders
- Netflix fourth quarter 2024 letter to shareholders
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