Netflix Gets Crushed on Fewer Q3 Subscribers Amid Competition

After a surprise drop in new subscribers, Netflix shed a fifth of its value on Thursday, making it The Street's Move of the Day. The video streaming giant revealed that it signed up fewer subscribers than expected with 3.02 million new streaming customers in its third quarter, missing its own forecast of 3.69 million new customers. Netflix, with original shows including ‘House of Cards’ and ‘Orange is the New Black’ said it plans to spend $8.9 billion on acquiring new content in the next few years to reach new viewers and increase its buying power with content providers. The company is seeing heightened competition as CBS and Time Warner announced its own online video streaming services. Jim Cramer thinks the announcement of Time Warner owned HBO's competitive service had little to do with Netflix's decline, and instead points to the raised expectations in the days prior to the earnings report. Netflix stock plummeted 19.37% to $361.70 on more than 5 times its average trading volume, making it the top loser on the S&P 500.