Netflix posted third-quarter results on Tuesday. Diluted earnings per share were $0.87, against $0.59 in the same quarter of 2025. Revenue was $12.874 billion, up 12% from a year earlier (11% on a constant-currency basis). The company says the revenue figure was in line with its own forecast.

The operating margin rose to 34.6% from 28.2% in the third quarter of 2025. Operating income was $4.5 billion, up 37%. Both figures came in ahead of the forecast, mainly because of the timing of expenses. This is not a bankruptcy filing and not a withdrawal of full-year guidance.

For the fourth quarter, the letter to shareholders puts revenue at $13.4 billion, up 12% from a year earlier, and diluted EPS at $0.67. The projected fourth-quarter operating margin is 26.0% and includes about 120 basis points from recently announced headcount cuts. Deadline wrote that the shares fell after hours. An after-hours print is not the day's close.

For the whole of 2026, Netflix expects revenue of $51.1 billion, up 13%. That is 0.2% below the midpoint of its previous range. Subscription revenue has run ahead of expectations. Advertising revenue is now put at about $2.7 billion, down from about $3 billion. The reason in the letter: some ad-product capabilities rolled out a little slower than expected.

The 2026 operating-margin guide is 31.5%, including about 30 basis points from the fourth-quarter headcount cuts. Third-quarter free cash flow was $2.9 billion. The 2026 free-cash-flow forecast was adjusted to about $12.0 billion from $12.5 billion, mainly because a real-estate deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter. Buybacks in the quarter are a separate fact: Netflix bought 63.9 million shares for $4.8 billion, with $22.3 billion left on authorizations.

The letter acknowledges investor concern about growth in viewing hours. Member response to the 2026 price increases was, the company says, in line with expectations. Global and US churn improved from a year earlier. Last week's leadership changes, including Bela Bajaria and Dan Lin, are already on this site. They are not the subject of this report.

Deadline tied the fourth-quarter outlook to last week's layoffs of about 1,000 people, 6% of staff. The letter ties those cuts to fourth-quarter margin, not to an explicit cut of fourth-quarter revenue against a prior quarterly guide. We do not mix the $13.44 billion fourth-quarter revenue forecast with the third-quarter result.

Image: Coolcaesar, Netflix headquarters in Los Gatos, California, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons; the building, not the 20 October 2026 results call.

Sources consulted: Netflix Stock Falls Despite Solid Q3 Results On Lowered Q4 Revenue And Advertising Guidance - Deadline; Netflix Third Quarter 2026 Earnings Interview / Letter to Shareholders - Netflix IR.