Now Streaming: Netflix provides ‘beat and raise’ report for Q2

“Now Streaming” is The Fly’s weekly recap of the stories surrounding the biggest content streamers.

PLAYING THIS WEEKEND: Among this weekend’s most notable new streaming content is the third season of coming-of-age romantic drama series “The Summer I turned Pretty,” which can be viewed on Amazon Prime Video (AMZN). Meanwhile, Paramount+ (PARA) subscribers can catch the latest season of sci-fi series “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds,” while Hulu users can sci-fi thriller film “The Assessment,” starring Alicia Vikander, Elizabeth Olsen, and Himesh Patel.

NETFLIX: On Thursday, Netflix (NFLX) reported better-than-expected Q2 earnings per share and revenue, with the company attributed the 16% year-over-year revenue growth to more members, higher subscription pricing, and increased dad revenue. The streaming giant also provided upbeat Q3 guidance and raised its FY25 revenue outlook, noting that the majority of its FY25 revenue guide increase reflects the recent depreciation of the U.S. dollar versus most other currencies.

In its quarterly letter to investors, Netflix added that its “most significant investment” remains in the U.S. “As we grow globally, our most significant investment remains in the US, which accounts for the majority of our content spend, workforce and production infrastructure,” the company said. “From 2020-2024, we estimate that we contributed $125 billion to the US economy. Our expansion in Albuquerque, NM-adding four new soundstages to a 108-acre site-and our plan to invest roughly $1B to develop a state-of-the-art production facility (including 12 new soundstages) in Fort Monmouth, NJ, underscore our ongoing commitment to production in the US. We recently announced a partnership with leading local broadcaster TF1 in France which will allow us to offer TF1’s linear channels and on-demand content to our French members as part of their Netflix subscription without having to leave our service. The wide variety of additional content will include local titles and genres like soap operas, big weekly competition shows and major live sports programming such as the UEFA Nations League that is incremental to what we offer our members today. The partnership will go live in the summer of 2026 and we expect to learn about the value this expanded local programming can provide our members.”

Following the report, no fewer than nine securities analysts raised their price targets on the Netflix, with Jefferies  raising his firm’s target on the shares to $1,500 from $1,400. The firm was “most encouraged” to see United States and Canada revenue growth accelerate to 15% year-over-year, which suggests limited churn from the recent price increases, adds the analyst, who believes the company can sustain 20%-plus EPS growth over the next three to five years.

Additionally, Wells Fargo raised the firm’s price target on Netflix to $1,560 from $1,500 and reiterated an Overweight rating on the shares, noting that Q2 was a modest beat/raise. Investors are now focused on share gains, and Wells thinks the next 12 months will be rich with announcements in short form plus sports/live. Operating leverage exceeds expectations, the analyst added.

‘LATE SHOW’: Paramount’s CBS plans to end “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” in May 2026 and retiring “The Late Show” in its entirety. In a taped segment of Thursday night’s episode posted on Instagram, Colbert himself said he was “grateful” to CBS for the opportunity and he is “not being replaced, this is all just going away.” In a statement provided to Deadline, CBS said the move was “purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night” and “is not related in any way to the show’s performance, content or other matters happening at Paramount.”

The timing of the announcement has already been subject to some scrutiny and speculation, as it occurs just days after Colbert criticized the parent company’s $16M settlement with President Donald Trump to resolve a lawsuit over edits to an October 2024 “60 Minutes” interview with Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris. The “Late Show” host called the settlement a “big fat bribe.”

Senator Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat from Massachusetts, posted on Bluesky that the country “deserves to know if his show was canceled for political reasons,” while Senator Adam Schiff, a Democrat from California who was a guest on the “Late Show” Thursday, said America “deserves better.” Meanwhile, commenting on the move in a Truth Social post, Trump said he “absolutely love(s)” that Colbert “got fired,” adding that he believes “Jimmy Kimmel is next.” His assertion that Colbert was fired would challenge the statements CBS put out with the announcement claiming such a move was financially motivated above all else.

NBCU: On Tuesday, Comcast’s (CMCSA) NBCUniversal announced the close of its 2025-26 Upfront negotiation cycle, which generated the highest ad sales volume ever for its iconic slate of live and everyday programming. NBCUniversal saw record sales commitments overall and delivered its largest digital Upfront in history. NBCUniversal’s three major tentpoles – the Milan Cortina Olympics, Super Bowl LX and the FIFA World Cup – drove additional record sales to the business for its ’25-26 Upfront, outpacing all three of the property’s combined previous benchmarks. The company also saw record-breaking growth across key advertising categories into these cultural moments.

Following the news, media reported that NBCUniversal is raising prices for its Peacock streaming service for the third time in three years. Beginning July 23, the price for ad tier Peacock Premium will increase by $3 to $10.00 per month, while Premium Plus, which includes limited ads in live programming, will go up by $3 to $16.99 per month. The service’s annual price will be $109.99 per year for Premium, while Premium Plus’ annual price will be $169.99 per year

Commenting on the moves, Benchmark reiterated a Buy rating and $48 price target on Comcast after NBCUniversal “not surprisingly” announced a near 40% price increase on Peacock’s ad-supported version and 20% on its original subscription streaming offering. The firm also noted that NBCU indicated last week that Peacock generated a 20% increase in upfront volume and now represents nearly one-third of NBCUniversal’s new season commitments. Improved Xfinity performance in the second half should complement across-the-board NBCUniversal momentum in “alleviating the stock’s chronic sum-of-the-parts discount,” the analyst tells investors.

APPLE/F1: Apple (AAPL) has submitted a bid worth at least $150M a year for the U.S. streaming rights for Formula 1 races beginning in 2026, Peter Kafka of Business Insider reports. The rights are currently held by Disney’s (DIS) ESPN, which is not going to try to match or beat Apple’s offer, a source familiar with the negotiations said.

STOCK PLAYS: Other publicly traded companies in the space include FuboTV (FUBO), Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD), AMC Networks (AMCX), Roku (ROKU), and Fox Corporation (FOX).