Netflix Shares Fall 36 Percent After 800,000 Customers Leave

By CP News Briefs, Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Netflix has suffered a 36 percent plunge to its stock market price Tuesday. The drop comes after the company announced the exodus of 800,000 customers in the third quarter. The stocks fell to $76.19, falling $42.65. It is down from over $300 just three and a half months ago.

The subscription losses were bigger than the company had forecast; 600,000 U.S. customers.

Angry customers and investors left Netflix after it raised its subscription price by 60 percent in the U.S. and tried to spin off its DVD-by-mail subscription into a new company called Qwikster. Many people canceled their service, especially the DVD-by-mail service.

Customers pay between $7.99 - $9.99 a month to stream Netflix films to TVs, PCs and games.

Netflix forecasts a loss for the first quarter of 2012 as it moves to expand to Europe and focus more on streaming TV and movies online. The company said on Monday that its DVD subscriptions will “decline sharply this quarter” but total U.S. subscribers which also include customers paying for the online streaming service, will be “slightly up.”