Netflix CEO Flip Flops And Uses ‘Exploitation Tactic’ to Grow Ad Sales 150%... Warren Dumps More BAC

After eight straight green days, the stock market decided to pull a Cher and “Turn Back Time,” but just barely. 

The Dow managed to slide by 1 point, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite each eked out a 0.1% loss. It’s like they just couldn’t be bothered to show up.

Volatility? It’s chilling out big time. The VIX, once screaming at 65, is now sitting comfortably under 16. That’s night and day from August 5, when the S&P 500 had its worst day since 2022, courtesy of a weak jobs report and Japan throwing a surprise interest rate party.

In “Single Stockland,” Palo Alto Networks soared over 8% after smashing analyst expectations and announcing a $500 million stock buyback. Meanwhile, Lowe’s is stuck in the fixer-upper phase, dropping over 1% after lowering its profit outlook. 

Bank of America took a hit too, down more than 2%, as Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway continues to sell shares.

Netflix Founder Uses ‘Exploitation Tactic’ to Grow Ad Sales 150%?

If you were part of that infamous Blockbuster board meeting where they laughed Netflix out of the room, you might want to skip this next part—unless you’re cool with revisiting what might be the worst business decision since my Titans traded Aj Brown for Malik Willis. 

Netflix just hit a fresh record high, and it's not because your mom is gearing up for Squid Game season two marathons. Nope, the streaming giant just dropped some news that’s got Disney+ and Peacock punching the air. As for that Blockbuster exec who thought DVDs were the future? He’s probably wishing he could hit rewind—or at least find a cozy spot under a bridge.

Netflix just revealed in a company blog post that they secured an unbelievable 150% increase in upfront ad sales commitments compared to last year. Let that sink in. Keep in mind: this is the same company whose co-founder, Reed Hastings, once famously declared they’d never sell ads because it was “exploitation.”

Fast forward to now, and Ads are no longer the villain in the Netflix story—they’re the hero bringing in piles of cash. Madison Avenue is practically throwing money at them, and Netflix is absolutely swimming in ad revenue.

Netflix didn’t climb to the top by playing it safe with reruns of Friends. The platform has been leaning hard into live sports, like the upcoming Christmas Day NFL games and the WWE Raw, set to debut in January 2024. They’re even streaming the Jake Paul/Mike Tyson fight, because apparently we haven’t seen Jake fight enough senior citizens yet. Toss in a lineup of crowd-pleasers like Happy Gilmore 2 and Squid Game 2, and it’s no wonder advertisers are practically climbing over each other to get a piece of the action.

With ad partners like LVMH, Amazon, Hilton, L’Oréal, and Google in their back pocket, Netflix is clearly not messing around. They’re even launching their own in-house ad tech platform globally in 2025, just to make sure they can cut out the middlemen and siphon all that sweet, sweet ad money directly into their pockets.

Because of this news, analysts are now predicting another price hike. So if you’ve been shelling out for that Premium plan at $22.99 a month, brace yourself—Netflix might be coming for your wallet again soon. The last price hike was back in October 2022, but with this kind of momentum, it’s not hard to see why Netflix would want to cash in while the iron’s hot.

Let’s not forget, Netflix’s ad-supported tier is still one of the cheapest out there at $6.99 a month. So, while they’re busy making the $15.49 Standard plan their lowest-priced ad-free option, the rest of us might just have to accept that shelling out a little extra for those premium shows (and now, live sports) is the new normal.

So, what’s the real takeaway here aside from the fact that Netflix is dominating the streaming wars? Subscribers who are tired of ads might grumble, but let’s be honest—they’re still going to pay and watch. Meanwhile, investors are grinning from ear to ear. With the stock up 48% this year, there’s nothing to complain about. A 150% spike in ad sales commitments, a potential price hike on the horizon, and a growing interest in live sports all point to one thing—Netflix isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.

Stock.News has positions in Netflix, Amazon, Alphabet, and Disney.