Netflix (NFLX) 10-K2023 FY Annual report

Netflix, Inc. (“Netflix”, “the Company”, “registrant”, “we”, or “us”) is one of the world’s leading entertainment services with over 260 million paid memberships in over 190 countries enjoying TV series, films and games across a wide variety of genres and languages. Members can play, pause and resume watching as much as they want, anytime, anywhere, and can change their plans at any time.

Our core strategy is to grow our business globally within the parameters of our operating margin target. We strive to continuously improve our members' experience by offering compelling content that delights them and attracts new members. We seek to drive conversation around our content to further enhance member joy, and we are continuously enhancing our user interface to help our members more easily choose content that they will find enjoyable.

The market for entertainment video is intensely competitive and subject to rapid change. We compete with a broad set of activities for consumers’ leisure time, including other entertainment video providers, such as linear TV, streaming entertainment providers (including those that provide pirated content), video gaming providers and more broadly against other sources of entertainment, like social media, that our members could choose in their moments of free time. We also compete against entertainment video providers and content producers in obtaining content for our service, both for licensed content and for original content projects.

While consumers may maintain simultaneous relationships with multiple entertainment sources, we strive for consumers to choose us in their moments of free time. We have often referred to this choice as our objective of "winning moments of truth." In attempting to win these moments of truth with our members, we seek to continually improve our service, including both our technology and our content offerings.

Our membership growth exhibits a seasonal pattern that reflects variations when consumers buy internet-connected screens and when they tend to increase their viewing. Historically, the fourth quarter represents our greatest streaming membership growth. In addition, our membership growth can be impacted by our content release schedule and changes to pricing and plans.

We regard our trademarks, service marks, copyrights, patents, domain names, trade dress, trade secrets, proprietary technologies and similar intellectual property as important to our success. We use a combination of patent, trademark, copyright and trade secret laws and confidentiality agreements to protect our proprietary intellectual property. Our intellectual property rights extend to our technology, business processes and the content we produce and distribute through our service. We use the intellectual property of third parties in creating some of our content, merchandising our products and marketing our service. Our ability to provide our members with content they can watch depends on studios, content providers and other rights holders licensing rights, including distribution rights, to such content and certain related elements thereof, such as the public performance of music contained within the content we distribute. The license periods and the terms and conditions of such licenses vary. Our ability to protect and enforce our intellectual property rights is subject to certain risks and from time to time we encounter disputes over rights and obligations concerning intellectual property. We cannot provide assurance that we will prevail in any intellectual property disputes.

The media landscape and the internet delivery of content have seen growing regulatory action. Historically, media has been highly regulated in many countries. We are seeing some of these legacy regulatory frameworks be updated and expanded to address services like ours. In particular, we are seeing some countries update their cultural support legislation to include services like Netflix. This includes content quotas, levies and investment obligations. Some even restrict the extent of ownership rights we can have both in our service and in our content. In certain countries, regulators are also looking at restrictions that could require formal reviews of and/or adjustments to content that appears on our service in their country. In general these regulations impact all services and may make operating in certain jurisdictions more expensive or restrictive as to the content offerings we may provide.

We view our employees and our culture as key to our success. As of December 31, 2023, we had approximately 13,000 full-time employees. Of these, approximately 9,000 (69%) were located in the United States and Canada, 2,000 (15%) in Europe, Middle East, and Africa, 500 (4%) in Latin America and 1,500 (12%) in Asia-Pacific. We also have a number of employees engaged in content production, some of whom are part-time or temporary, and whose numbers fluctuate throughout the year. We believe a critical component of our success is our company culture. This culture, which is detailed in a "Culture Memo" located on our website, is often described as providing a unique environment for our associates to perform the best work of their lives in pursuit of excellence. We aim to attract and retain great people - representing a diverse array of perspectives and skills - to work together as a dream team. We empower all of our employees so that they can have significant impact and input into decision-making; each employee has a high degree of freedom and power to make the decisions and take actions in the best interest of the company in carrying out their role. In return, our employees are responsible and accountable for those decisions and actions. With this approach, we believe we are a more flexible, fun, stimulating, creative, collaborative and successful organization.

As we have expanded our offices globally, our company culture remains an important aspect of our operations. We are mindful of cultural differences across and within regions. Fostering a work environment that is culturally diverse, inclusive and equitable is a major focus for us. We work to build diversity, inclusion and equity into all aspects of our operations globally, with the goal of having diversity and inclusion function as a critical lens through which each Netflix employee carries out their role. We want more people and cultures to see themselves reflected on screen - so it’s important that our employee base is diverse and represents the communities we serve. We look to help increase representation by training our recruiters on how to hire more inclusively, and to help the company and senior leaders diversify their networks. We also support numerous employee resource groups (ERGs), representing employees and allies from a broad array of historically underrepresented and/or marginalized communities. We publish annually an update on our inclusion initiatives and progress, which further highlights our approach to diversity and inclusion, and publish our EEO-1 reports on our website.

We believe in fostering great leaders. We offer programs, such as seminars and lectures, that are designed to equip our leaders (officers, VPs, people managers and director and senior manager-level employees) to lead the business and our teams in alignment with our expectations and strategic goals. We have built a portfolio of programs under three foundational pillars - great company, great leaders, and great human beings - which we believe support our current and future success. We also offer programs and workshops to provide skills and coaching to employees on a variety of topics, such as leading and inspiring

We aim to generally pay our employees at the top of their personal market, and they generally are able to choose the form of their compensation between cash and stock options. This permits employee compensation to be highly personalized and reflective of each employee's individual needs and preferences. We conduct pay equity analyses at least annually, and have adopted practices to help ensure that employees from underrepresented groups are not being underpaid based on gender (globally) and race (U.S.) relative to others doing the same or similar work under comparable circumstances. We aim to rectify any pay gaps that we find through this analysis.

We care about the health and well-being of our employees and their families and provide a variety of benefit programs based on region, including health benefits. In the U.S., employees generally receive an annual cash health benefit allowance that they may allocate to medical, dental and vision premiums in a way that makes sense for them. Employees have access to a host of other benefits, including mental health, childcare, family planning and a company match for charitable donations.

We believe that our approach to human capital resources has been instrumental in our growth, and has made Netflix a desirable destination for employees.

We must continually add new members both to replace canceled memberships and to grow our business beyond our current membership base. Our penetration and growth rates have fluctuated and vary across the jurisdictions where we provide our service. In countries where we have been operating for many years or where we are highly penetrated, our membership growth is slower than in newer or less penetrated countries. Our ability to continue to attract and retain members will depend in part on our ability to consistently provide our members in countries around the globe with compelling content choices that keep our members engaged with our service, effectively drive conversation around our content and service, as well as provide a quality experience for choosing and enjoying TV series, films and games. Furthermore, the relative service levels, content offerings, pricing and related features of competitors to our service may adversely impact our ability to attract and retain members. Competitors include other entertainment video providers, such as linear television, and streaming entertainment providers (including those that provide pirated content), video gaming providers, as well as user-generated content, and more broadly other sources of entertainment that our members could choose in their moments of free time.

Members cancel our service for many reasons, including a perception that they do not use the service sufficiently, that they need to cut household expenses, dissatisfaction with content, a preference for competitive services and customer service issues that they believe are not satisfactorily resolved. Membership growth is also impacted by seasonality, with the fourth quarter historically representing our greatest growth, as well as the timing of our content release schedules. Adverse macroeconomic conditions, including inflation, may also adversely impact our ability to attract and retain members. If we do not grow as expected, given, in particular, that our content costs are largely fixed in nature, we may not be able to adjust our expenditures or increase our (per membership) revenues, including by adjusting membership pricing, commensurate with the lowered growth rate such that our margins, liquidity and results of operations may be adversely impacted. If we are unable to successfully compete with current and new competitors in providing compelling content, retaining our existing members and attracting new members, our business will be adversely affected.

We have and may, from time to time, adjust our membership pricing, our membership plans, or our pricing model itself. For example, we introduced a new, lower-priced ad-supported subscription plan. Similarly, we have increased enforcement of and will continue to enforce our terms of use to limit multi-household usage and shared viewing outside of a household. These and other adjustments we make may not be well-received by consumers, and could negatively impact our ability to attract and retain members, revenues per paying membership, revenue and our results of operations. In addition, many of our members rejoin our service or originate from word-of-mouth advertising from existing members. If our efforts to satisfy our existing members or adjustments to our service are not successful, we may not be able to attract or retain members, and as a result, our ability to maintain and/or grow our business will be adversely affected.

The market for entertainment is intensely competitive and subject to rapid change. Through new and existing distribution channels, consumers have increasing options to access entertainment video. The various economic models underlying these channels include subscription, transactional, ad-supported and piracy-based models. All of these have the potential to capture

As a producer and distributor of content, we face potential liability for negligence, copyright and trademark infringement, or other claims based on the nature and content of materials that we acquire, produce, license and/or distribute. We also may face potential liability for content used in promoting our service, including marketing materials. We devote significant resources toward the development, production, marketing and distribution of original programming, including TV series, documentaries, feature films and games. We believe that original and exclusive programming can help differentiate our service from other offerings, enhance our brand and otherwise attract and retain members. To the extent our programming does not meet our expectations, in particular, in terms of costs, viewing and popularity, our business, including our brand and results of operations may be adversely impacted. As a content producer, we are responsible for production costs and other expenses, such as ongoing guild payments, and take on risks associated with production, such as completion and key talent risk. Further, negotiations or renewals related to entertainment industry collective bargaining agreements have, and in the future, could negatively impact timing and costs associated with our productions. We contract with third parties related to the development, production, marketing and distribution of our original programming. We may face potential liability or may suffer significant losses in connection with these arrangements, including but not limited to if such third parties violate applicable law, become insolvent or engage in fraudulent behavior. To the extent we create and sell physical or digital merchandise relating to our programming, and/or license such rights to third parties, we could become subject to product liability, intellectual property or other claims related to such merchandise. We may decide to remove content from our service, not to place licensed or produced content on our service or discontinue or alter production of original content if we believe such content might not be well received by our members, is prohibited by law, or could be damaging to our brand or business.

To the extent we do not accurately anticipate costs or mitigate risks, including for content that we obtain but ultimately does not appear on or is removed from our service, or if we become liable for content we acquire, produce, license and/or distribute, our business may suffer. Litigation to defend these claims could be costly and the expenses and damages arising from any liability or unforeseen production risks could harm our results of operations. We may not be indemnified against claims or costs of these types and we may not have insurance coverage for these types of claims.

We are expanding our operations internationally, scaling our streaming service to effectively and reliably handle anticipated growth in both members and features related to our services, such as introducing games and advertising on our service, as well as offering live programming and expanding our consumer products and experiences. We are also scaling our own studio operations to produce original content, including through acquisitions such as Scanline and Animal Logic. As our international offering evolves, we are managing and adjusting our business to address varied content offerings, consumer customs and practices, in particular those dealing with e-commerce and streaming video, as well as differing legal and regulatory environments. As we scale our streaming service and introduce new features such as our new ad-supported subscription plan, we are developing technology and utilizing third-party “cloud” computing, technology and other services. As we scale our content production, including games, and introduce new features, such as live programming and expand our consumer products and experience offerings, we are building out expertise in a number of disciplines, including creative, marketing, legal, finance, licensing, merchandising and other resources, which requires significant resources and management attention. Further, we may expand our content and service offerings in a manner that is not well received by consumers. As we grow our operations, we may face integration and operational challenges as well as potential unknown liabilities and reputational concerns in connection with partners we work with or companies we may acquire or control. If we are not able to

We believe that a positive reputation concerning our service is important in attracting and retaining members. To the extent our content, in particular, our original programming, is perceived as low quality, offensive or otherwise not compelling to consumers, our ability to establish and maintain a positive reputation may be adversely impacted. To the extent our content is deemed controversial or offensive by government regulators, we may face direct or indirect retaliatory action or behavior, including being required to remove such content from our service, our entire service could be banned and/or become subject to heightened regulatory scrutiny across our business and operations. We could also face boycotts which could adversely affect our business. Furthermore, to the extent our response to government action or our marketing, customer service and public relations efforts are not effective or result in negative reaction, our ability to establish and maintain a positive reputation may likewise be adversely impacted. There is an increasing focus from regulators, investors, members and other stakeholders on environmental, social, and governance (“ESG”) matters, both in the United States and internationally, including the adoption of new disclosure and regulatory frameworks. To the extent the content we distribute and the manner in which we produce content creates ESG related concerns, our reputation may be harmed.

From time to time, we acquire or invest in businesses, content, and technologies that support our business. The risks associated with such acquisitions or investments (some of which may be unforeseen) include the difficulty of integrating solutions, operations, and personnel; inheriting liabilities and exposure to litigation; failure to realize anticipated benefits and expected synergies; and diversion of management’s time and attention, among other acquisition-related risks.

We may not be successful in overcoming such risks, and such acquisitions and investments may negatively impact our business. In addition, if we do not complete an announced acquisition transaction or integrate an acquired business successfully and in a timely manner, we may not realize the benefits of the acquisition to the extent anticipated. Acquisitions and investments may contribute to fluctuations in our quarterly financial results. These fluctuations could arise from transaction-related costs and charges associated with eliminating redundant expenses or write-offs of impaired assets recorded in connection with acquisitions and investments, and could negatively impact our financial results.

We currently offer members the ability to receive streaming content through a host of internet-connected devices, including TVs, digital video players, TV set-top boxes and mobile devices. We have agreements with various cable, satellite and telecommunications operators to make our service available through the TV set-top boxes of these service providers, some of which compete directly with us or have investments in competing streaming content providers. In many instances, our agreements also include provisions by which the partner bills consumers directly for the Netflix service or otherwise offers services or products in connection with offering our service. If partners or other providers do a better job of connecting consumers with content they want to watch, for example through multi-service discovery interfaces, our service may be adversely impacted. We intend to continue to broaden our relationships with existing partners and to increase our capability to stream TV series and films and offer games to other platforms and partners over time. If we are not successful in maintaining existing and creating new relationships, or if we encounter technological, content licensing, regulatory, business or other impediments to delivering our streaming content to our members via these devices, our ability to retain members and grow our business could be adversely impacted.

Our agreements with our partners are typically between one and three years in duration and our business could be adversely affected if, upon expiration, a number of our partners do not continue to provide access to our service or are unwilling to do so on terms acceptable to us, which terms may include the degree of accessibility and prominence of our service. Furthermore, devices are manufactured and sold by entities other than Netflix and while these entities should be responsible for the devices’ performance, the connection between these devices and our service may nonetheless result in consumer dissatisfaction toward us and such dissatisfaction could result in claims against us or otherwise adversely impact our business. In addition, technology changes to our streaming functionality may require that partners update their devices, or may lead to us to stop supporting the delivery of our service on certain legacy devices. If partners do not update or otherwise modify their devices, or if we discontinue support for certain devices, our service and our members' use and enjoyment could be negatively impacted.

Our members pay for our service using a variety of different payment methods, including credit and debit cards, gift cards, prepaid cards, direct debit, online wallets and direct carrier and partner billing. We rely on internal systems and those of third parties to process payment. Acceptance and processing of these payment methods are subject to certain rules, regulations, and industry standards, including data storage requirements, additional authentication requirements for certain payment methods, and require payment of interchange and other fees. To the extent there are increases in payment processing fees, material changes in the payment ecosystem, such as large re-issuances of payment cards, delays in receiving payments from payment processors, changes to rules, regulations or industry standards concerning payments, loss of payment partners and/or disruptions or failures in our payment processing systems, partner systems or payment products, including products we use to update payment information, our revenue, operating expenses and results of operations could be adversely impacted. In certain instances, we leverage third parties such as our cable and other partners to bill subscribers on our behalf. If these third parties become unwilling or unable to continue processing payments on our behalf, we would have to transition subscribers or otherwise find alternative methods of collecting payments, which could adversely impact member acquisition and retention. In addition, from time to time, we encounter fraudulent use of payment methods, which could impact our results of operations and if not adequately controlled and managed could create negative consumer perceptions of our service. If we are unable to maintain our fraud and chargeback rate at acceptable levels, card networks may impose fines, our card approval rate may be impacted and we may be subject to additional card authentication requirements. The termination of our ability to process payments on any major payment method would significantly impair our ability to operate our business.

The adoption or modification of laws or regulations relating to the internet or other areas of our business could limit or otherwise adversely affect the manner in which we currently conduct our business. As our service and others like us gain traction in international markets, governments are increasingly looking to introduce new or extend legacy regulations to these services, in particular those related to broadcast media and tax. For example, European law enables individual member states to impose levies and other financial obligations on media operators located outside their jurisdiction. Several jurisdictions have and others may, over time, impose financial and regulatory obligations on us. In addition, the continued growth and development of the market for online commerce may lead to more stringent consumer protection laws, which may impose additional burdens on us. If we are required to comply with new regulations or legislation or new interpretations of existing regulations or legislation, this compliance could cause us to incur additional expenses or alter our business model.

Changes in laws or regulations that adversely affect the growth, popularity or use of the internet, including laws impacting net neutrality or requiring payment of network access fees, could decrease the demand for our service and increase our cost of doing business. Certain laws intended to prevent network operators from discriminating against the legal traffic that traverse their networks have been implemented in many countries, including across the European Union. In others, the laws may be nascent or non-existent. Furthermore, favorable laws may change, including for example, in the United States where net neutrality regulations were repealed. Given uncertainty around these rules, including changing interpretations, amendments or repeal, coupled with potentially significant political and economic power of local network operators, we could experience discriminatory or anti-competitive practices that could impede our growth, cause us to incur additional expense or otherwise negatively affect our business.

From time to time, we are subject to litigation or claims that could negatively affect our business operations and financial position. As we have grown, we have seen a rise in the number of litigation matters against us. These matters have included copyright and other claims related to our content, patent infringement claims, tax litigation, employment related litigation, as well as consumer and securities class actions, each of which are typically expensive to defend. Litigation disputes could cause us to incur unforeseen expenses, result in content unavailability, service disruptions, and otherwise occupy a significant amount of our management's time and attention, any of which could negatively affect our business operations and financial position. We also receive inquiries and subpoenas and other types of information requests from government authorities, and we may become subject to related claims and other actions related to our business activities. While the ultimate outcome of investigations, inquiries, information requests and related legal proceedings is difficult to predict, such matters can be expensive, time-consuming and distracting, and adverse resolutions or settlements of those matters may result in, among other things, modification of our business practices, reputational harm or costs and significant payments, any of which could negatively affect our business operations and financial position.

We have limited experience and operating history offering advertising on our service, and our advertising revenue may not grow as we expect. Our ability to generate advertising revenue is subject to various risks and will depend on a number of factors, including:

Our ability to provide our members with content they can enjoy depends on obtaining various rights from third parties upon terms acceptable to us, including necessary distribution rights, to such content and certain related elements thereof, such as the public performance of music contained within the content we distribute. The license periods and the terms and conditions of such rights vary. As content providers develop their own streaming services, they may be unwilling to provide us with access to certain content, including popular series or movies. If the studios, content providers and other rights holders are not or are no longer willing or able to license us content upon terms acceptable to us, our ability to stream content to our members may be adversely affected and/or our costs could increase. Certain licenses for content provide for the studios or other content providers to withdraw content from our service relatively quickly. Because of these provisions and other actions we may take, content available through our service can be withdrawn on short notice. As competition increases, we see the cost of certain programming increase. As we seek to differentiate our service, we are often focused on securing certain exclusive rights when obtaining content, including original content. We are also focused on programming an overall mix of content that delights our members in a cost efficient manner. Within this context, we are selective about the titles we add and renew to our service. If we do not maintain a compelling mix of content, our member acquisition and retention may be adversely affected.

Music and certain authors’ performances contained within content we distribute may require us to obtain licenses for such distribution. In this regard, we engage in negotiations with collection management organizations (“CMOs”) and similar entities that hold certain rights to music and/or other interests in intellectual property (e.g., remuneration rights) in connection with streaming content into various territories. If we are unable to reach mutually acceptable terms with these organizations, we could become involved in litigation and/or could be enjoined from distributing certain content, which could adversely impact our business. Additionally, pending and ongoing litigation and negotiations between certain CMOs and other third parties in various territories could adversely impact our negotiations with CMOs, or result in music publishers represented by certain CMOs unilaterally withdrawing rights, and thereby adversely impact our ability to reach licensing agreements reasonably acceptable to us. Failure to reach such licensing agreements could expose us to potential liability for copyright infringement or otherwise increase our costs. Additionally, as the market for the digital distribution of content grows, a broader role for CMOs in the remuneration of authors, performers and other beneficiaries of neighboring rights is likely to expose us to greater distribution expenses in certain markets.

We rely and expect to continue to rely on a combination of confidentiality and license agreements with our employees, consultants and third parties with whom we have relationships, as well as trademark, copyright, patent and trade secret protection laws, to protect our proprietary rights. We may also seek to enforce our proprietary rights through court proceedings or other legal actions. We have filed and we expect to file from time to time for trademark, copyright, and patent applications. Nevertheless, these applications may not be approved, third parties may challenge any copyrights, patents or trademarks issued to or held by us, third parties may knowingly or unknowingly infringe our intellectual property rights, and we may not be able to prevent infringement or misappropriation without substantial expense to us. If the protection of our intellectual property rights is inadequate to prevent use or misappropriation by third parties, the value of our brand, content, and other intangible assets may be diminished, competitors may be able to more effectively mimic our service and methods of operations, the perception of our business and service to members and potential members may become confused in the marketplace, and our ability to attract members may be adversely affected.

We currently hold various domain names relating to our brand, including Netflix.com. Failure to protect our domain names could adversely affect our reputation and brand and make it more difficult for users to find our website and our service. We may be unable, without significant cost or at all, to prevent third parties from acquiring domain names that are similar to, infringe upon or otherwise decrease the value of our trademarks and other proprietary rights.

Trademark, copyright, patent and other intellectual property rights are important to us and other companies. Our intellectual property rights extend to our technology, business processes, the content we produce and distribute through our service, and consumer products, experiences, and marketing assets based thereon. We use the intellectual property of third parties in creating some of our content, merchandising our products and marketing our service. From time to time, third parties allege that we have infringed or otherwise violated their intellectual property rights. If we are unable to obtain sufficient rights, successfully defend our use, or develop non-infringing technology or otherwise alter our business practices on a timely basis in response to claims against us for infringement, misappropriation, misuse or other violation of third-party intellectual property rights, our business and competitive position may be adversely affected. In addition, the use or adoption of new and emerging technologies may increase our exposure to intellectual property claims, and the availability of copyright and other intellectual property protection for AI-generated material is uncertain. Many companies are devoting significant resources to developing patents that could potentially affect many aspects of our business. There are numerous patents that broadly claim means and methods of conducting business on the internet. We have not searched patents relative to our technology. Defending ourselves against intellectual property claims, whether they are with or without merit or are determined in our favor, results in costly litigation and diversion of technical and management personnel. It also may result in our inability to use our current website, streaming technology, our recommendation and merchandising technology or inability to market our service or merchandise our products. We may also have to remove content from our service, or remove consumer products or marketing materials from the marketplace. As a result of a dispute, we may have to develop non-infringing technology, enter into royalty or licensing agreements, adjust our content, merchandising or marketing activities or take other actions to resolve the claims. These actions, if required, may be costly or unavailable on terms acceptable to us.

Our reputation and ability to attract, retain and serve our members is dependent upon the reliable performance and security of our computer systems and those of third parties that we utilize in our operations. These systems may be subject to damage or interruption from, among other things, earthquakes, adverse weather conditions, other natural disasters, public health issues such as pandemics or epidemics, terrorist attacks, rogue employees, power loss, telecommunications failures, cybersecurity risks and incidents, and other interruptions beyond our control. Interruptions in these systems, or with the internet in general, could make our service unavailable or degraded or otherwise hinder our ability to deliver our service. Service interruptions, errors in our software or the unavailability of computer systems or data used in our operations could diminish the overall attractiveness of our service to existing and potential members.

Our computer systems and those of third parties we use in our operations are subject to constantly evolving cybersecurity threats, including cyber-attacks such as computer viruses, malware, ransomware, denial of service attacks, physical or electronic break-ins, or insider threats, as well as misconfigurations in information systems, networks, software or hardware, and similar disruptions or errors. These systems periodically experience directed attacks intended to lead to interruptions and delays in our service and operations as well as loss, misuse or theft of personal information (of third parties, employees, and our members) and other data, confidential information or intellectual property. We and many of the third parties we work with rely on open source software and libraries that are integrated into a variety of applications, tools and systems, which may increase our exposure to vulnerabilities. Additionally, outside parties may attempt to induce employees, vendors, partners, or users to disclose sensitive or confidential information in order to gain access to data. Any attempt by hackers to obtain our data (including member and corporate information) or intellectual property (including digital content assets), disrupt our service, or otherwise access our systems, or those of third parties we use, if successful, could harm our business, be expensive to remedy and damage our reputation. We have implemented certain systems and processes to thwart hackers and protect our data and systems. However, the techniques used to gain unauthorized access to data and software are constantly evolving, and we may be unable to anticipate, detect or prevent unauthorized access or address all cybersecurity incidents that occur. Because of our prominence, we (and/or third parties we use) have been and may continue to be a particularly attractive target for such attacks, and from time to time, we have experienced an unauthorized release of certain digital content assets. However, to date these unauthorized releases have not had a material impact on our service, systems or business. There is no assurance that hackers may not have a material impact on our service or systems in the future. We do not carry insurance to cover expenses related to such disruptions or unauthorized access. Efforts to prevent hackers from disrupting our service or otherwise accessing our systems are expensive to develop, implement and maintain. These efforts require ongoing monitoring and updating as technologies change and efforts to overcome security measures become more sophisticated, and may limit the functionality of or otherwise negatively impact our service offering and systems. Any significant disruption to our service or access to our systems could result in a loss of members and adversely affect our business and results of operation. Further, a penetration of our systems or a third-party’s systems or other misappropriation or misuse of personal information could subject us to business, regulatory, litigation and reputation risk, which could have a negative effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We utilize our own communications and computer hardware systems located either in our facilities or in that of a third-party provider. In addition, we utilize third-party “cloud” computing services in connection with our business operations. We also utilize our own and third-party content delivery networks to help us stream TV series, documentaries and feature films and offer games in high volume to Netflix members over the internet. Problems faced by us or our third-party “cloud” computing or other network providers, including technological or business-related disruptions, as well as cybersecurity threats and regulatory interference, could adversely impact the experience of our members.

Amazon Web Services (“AWS”) provides a distributed computing infrastructure platform for business operations, or what is commonly referred to as a "cloud" computing service. We have architected our software and computer systems so as to utilize data processing, storage capabilities and other services provided by AWS. Currently, we run the vast majority of our computing on AWS. Given this, along with the fact that we cannot easily switch our AWS operations to another cloud provider, any disruption of or interference with our use of AWS would impact our operations and our business would be adversely impacted. While the retail side of Amazon competes with us, we do not believe that Amazon will use the AWS operation in such a manner as to gain competitive advantage against our service, although if it were to do so it could harm our business.

We utilize a combination of proprietary and third-party technology to operate our business. This includes the technology that we have developed to recommend and merchandise content to our consumers as well as enable fast and efficient delivery of content to our members and their various consumer electronic devices. For example, we have built and deployed our own content-delivery network (“CDN”). To the extent Internet Service Providers (“ISPs”) do not interconnect with our CDN or charge us to access their networks, or if we experience difficulties in our CDN’s operation, our ability to efficiently and effectively deliver our streaming content to our members could be adversely impacted and our business and results of operations could be adversely affected. Likewise, if our recommendation and merchandising technology does not enable us to predict and recommend titles that our members will enjoy, our ability to attract and retain members may be adversely affected. We also utilize third-party technology to help market our service, process payments, and otherwise manage the daily operations of our business. If our technology or that of third-parties we utilize in our operations fails or otherwise operates improperly,

We rely upon the ability of consumers to access our service through the internet. If network operators block, restrict or otherwise impair access to our service over their networks, our service and business could be negatively affected. To the extent that network operators implement usage based pricing, including meaningful bandwidth caps, or otherwise try to monetize access to their networks by data providers, we could incur greater operating expenses and our member acquisition and retention could be negatively impacted. Furthermore, to the extent network operators create tiers of internet access service and either charge us for or prohibit us from being available through these tiers, our business could be negatively impacted.

Most network operators that provide consumers with access to the internet also provide these consumers with multichannel video programming. As such, many network operators have an incentive to use their network infrastructure in a manner adverse to our continued growth and success. While we believe that consumer demand, regulatory oversight and competition will help check these incentives, to the extent that network operators are able to provide preferential treatment to their data as opposed to ours or otherwise implement discriminatory network management practices, our business could be negatively impacted. The extent to which these incentives limit operator behavior differs across markets.

In the ordinary course of business and in particular in connection with content acquisition, merchandising our service to our members and our ad-supported subscription plan, we collect and utilize information supplied by our members, which may include personal information and other data. We are subject to laws, rules and regulations in the U.S. and in other countries relating to privacy and the collection, use and security of personal information, including but not limited to Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (also known as the General Data Protection Regulation or “GDPR”) and the California Privacy Rights Act ("CPRA"). Any actual or perceived failure to comply with the GDPR, the California Consumer Privacy Act/CPRA, other data privacy laws or regulations, or related contractual or other obligations, or any perceived privacy rights violation, could lead to investigations, claims, and proceedings by governmental entities and private parties, damages for contract breach, and other significant costs, penalties, and other liabilities, as well as harm to our reputation and market position.

Other businesses have been criticized by privacy groups and governmental bodies for attempts to link personal identities and other information to data collected on the internet regarding users’ browsing and other habits. Increased regulation of data utilization practices, including self-regulation or findings under existing laws that limit our ability to collect, transfer and use personal information, could have an adverse effect on our business. In addition, if we were to disclose personal information about our members in a manner that was objectionable to them, our business reputation could be adversely affected, and we could face potential legal claims that could impact our operating results. Internationally, we may become subject to additional and/or more stringent legal obligations concerning our treatment of member and other personal information, such as laws regarding data localization and/or restrictions on data export. Failure to comply with these obligations could subject us to liability, and to the extent that we need to alter our business model or practices to adapt to these obligations, we could incur additional expenses.

We maintain personal information regarding our members, including names, age, gender and billing information. This personal information is maintained on our own systems as well as that of third parties we use in our operations. With respect to billing information, such as credit card numbers, we rely on encryption and authentication technology to secure such information. We take measures to protect against unauthorized intrusion into our members’ information. Despite these measures and technologies we, our payment processing services or other third-party services we use such as AWS, could experience an unauthorized intrusion into our members’ information. In the event of such a breach, current and potential members may become unwilling to provide the information to us necessary for them to remain or become members. We also may be required to notify regulators about any actual or perceived data breach (including various state Attorneys General, one or more EU data protection authorities, or other data protection authorities) as well as the individuals who are affected by the incident within strict time periods. Additionally, we could face legal claims or regulatory fines or penalties for such a breach. The costs relating to any data breach could be material, and we currently do not carry insurance against the risk of a data

In connection with licensing streaming content, we typically enter into multi-year commitments with studios and other content providers. We also enter into multi-year commitments for content that we produce, either directly or through third parties, including elements associated with these productions such as non-cancelable commitments under talent agreements. The payment terms of these agreements are not tied to member usage or the size of our membership base (“fixed cost”) but may be determined by costs of production or tied to such factors as titles licensed and/or theatrical exhibition receipts. Such commitments, to the extent estimable under accounting standards, are included in the Contractual Obligations section of Part II, Item 7, "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" and Note 8, Commitments and Contingencies in the accompanying notes to our consolidated financial statements included in Part II, Item 8, "Financial Statements and Supplementary Data" of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Given the multiple-year duration and largely fixed cost nature of content commitments, if business performance does not meet our expectations, our margins may be adversely impacted. Further, we may be unable to react to any reduction in our cash flows from operations, including those caused by a downturn in the economy, by reducing our streaming content obligations in the near-term. Payment terms for certain content commitments, such as content we directly produce, will typically require more up-front cash payments than other content licenses or arrangements whereby we do not fund the production of such content. To the extent membership and/or revenue growth do not meet our expectations, our liquidity and results of operations could be adversely affected as a result of content commitments and accelerated payment requirements of certain agreements. In addition, the long-term and largely fixed cost nature of our content commitments may limit our flexibility in planning for, or reacting to changes in our business and the market segments in which we operate. If we license and/or produce content that is not favorably received by consumers in a territory, or is unable to be shown in a territory, acquisition and retention may be adversely impacted and given the long-term and fixed cost nature of our content commitments, we may not be able to adjust our content offerings quickly and our results of operations may be adversely impacted.

From time to time, we may seek to obtain additional capital, either through equity, equity-linked or debt securities. For several years prior to 2020, our cash flows from operations were negative and to the extent that it becomes negative in the future we may need to seek additional capital. The decision to obtain additional capital will depend on, among other things, our business plans, operating performance and condition of the capital markets. Rising interest rates or any disruption in the capital markets could make it more difficult and expensive for us to raise additional capital or refinance our existing indebtedness. If we raise additional funds through the issuance of equity, equity-linked or debt securities, those securities may have rights, preferences or privileges senior to the rights of our common stock, and our stockholders may experience dilution. Any large equity or equity-linked offering could also negatively impact our stock price.

We have a substantial amount of indebtedness and other obligations, including streaming content obligations. Moreover, we may incur additional indebtedness in the future and incur other obligations, including additional streaming content obligations. Our ability to make payments on our debt and other obligations will depend on our financial and operating performance, which is subject to prevailing economic and competitive conditions and to certain financial, business and other factors beyond our control. If we are unable to service our debt and other obligations from cash flows, we may need to refinance or restructure all or a portion of such obligations prior to maturity. If the financial markets become difficult or costly to access, including due to rising interest rates, fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates or other changes in economic conditions, our ability to raise additional capital may be negatively impacted, and any refinancing or restructuring could be at higher interest rates and may require us to comply with more onerous covenants, which could further restrict our business operations. As of December 31, 2023, we had the equivalent of $14.6 billion aggregate principal amount of senior notes outstanding (“Notes”), some of which is denominated in currencies other than the U.S. dollar. In addition, we have entered into a revolving credit agreement that provides for a $1 billion unsecured revolving credit facility. As of December 31, 2023, we

We are a U.S.-based multinational company subject to tax in multiple U.S. and foreign tax jurisdictions. Significant judgment is required in determining our global provision for income taxes, deferred taxes and other tax liabilities and receivables, and in evaluating our tax positions and other tax attributes on a worldwide basis. We are subject to the periodic examination of our domestic and foreign tax returns by the IRS, state, local, and foreign tax authorities, some of whom are challenging our tax positions. We regularly assess the likelihood of adverse outcomes from these examinations in determining the adequacy of our provision for income taxes and other tax liabilities. We consider many factors when evaluating and estimating our tax positions and tax benefits, which may require periodic adjustments and may not accurately forecast actual tax audit outcomes. If the ultimate determination of income and other tax liabilities differ from the amounts recorded or accrued, our business, financial condition or results of operations may be adversely impacted.

Tax laws are regularly being re-examined and evaluated globally. New laws and interpretations of the law are taken into account for financial statement purposes in the quarter or year that they become applicable. Tax authorities are increasingly scrutinizing the tax positions of companies and we have tax audits pending in several jurisdictions. The U.S. federal and state governments, countries in the European Union, as well as a number of other countries and organizations such as the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, are actively considering changes to existing tax laws that, if enacted, could increase our tax obligations in jurisdictions where we do business. If U.S. or other tax authorities change applicable tax laws or successfully challenge how or where our profits are currently recognized, our overall taxes could increase, and our business, financial condition or results of operations may be adversely impacted.

We rely on the continued service of our senior management, including our Co-Chief Executive Officers, Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters, our Executive Chairman, Reed Hastings, members of our executive team and other key employees. In our industry, there is substantial and continuous competition for highly-skilled business, product development, technical, creative and other personnel. If we experience high executive turnover, fail to adapt our business practices to industry expectations, fail to implement succession plans for key employees, encounter difficulties associated with the transition of members of our management team, are not successful in recruiting new personnel or in retaining and motivating existing personnel, in instilling our culture in new employees, or maintaining and improving our culture as we grow, our operations may be disrupted, which could adversely affect our results of operations.

We and our partners, suppliers, and vendors engage writers, directors, actors, other talent, trade employees and others who are subject to collective bargaining agreements in the motion picture industry, both in the U.S. and internationally. Expiring collective bargaining agreements may be renewed on terms that are unfavorable to us. If expiring collective bargaining agreements cannot be renewed, affected unions have, and could in the future, take action in the form of strikes or work stoppages. For example, the Writers Guild (“WGA”) and Screen Actors Guild (“SAG-AFTRA”) collective bargaining

As a Delaware corporation, we are also subject to certain Delaware anti-takeover provisions. Under Delaware law, a corporation may not engage in a business combination with any holder of 15% or more of its capital stock unless the holder has held the stock for three years or, among other things, the board of directors has approved the transaction. Our board of directors could rely on Delaware law to prevent or delay an acquisition of us.

In addition, a merger or acquisition may trigger retention payments to certain executive employees under the terms of our Amended and Restated Executive Severance and Retention Incentive Plan, thereby increasing the cost of such a transaction.

As a result of these and other factors, investors in our common stock may not be able to resell their shares at or above their original purchase price.

Following certain periods of volatility in the market price of our securities, we became the subject of securities litigation. We may experience more such litigation following future periods of volatility. This type of litigation may result in substantial costs and a diversion of management’s attention and resources.

Consolidated revenues for the year ended December 31, 2023 increased 7% as compared to the year ended December 31, 2022. Operating margin for the year ended December 31, 2023 increased three percentage points, primarily due to revenues growing at a faster rate as compared to the growth in cost of revenues and marketing and decreased technology and development expenses, partially offset by higher growth in general and administrative expenses as compared to the growth in revenues.

The following tables summarize streaming revenue and other streaming membership information by region for the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022 and 2021.

Amortization of content assets makes up the majority of cost of revenues. Expenses directly associated with the acquisition, licensing and production of content (such as payroll, stock-based compensation, facilities, and other related personnel expenses, costs associated with obtaining rights to music included in our content, overall deals with talent, miscellaneous production related costs and participations and residuals), streaming delivery costs and other operations costs make up the remainder of cost of revenues. We have built our own global content delivery network (“Open Connect”) to help us efficiently stream a high volume of content to our members over the internet. Delivery expenses, therefore, include equipment costs related to Open Connect, payroll and related personnel expenses and all third-party costs, such as cloud computing costs, associated with delivering content over the internet. Other operations costs include customer service and payment processing fees, including those we pay to our integrated payment partners, as well as other costs directly incurred in making our content available to members.

Marketing expenses consist primarily of advertising expenses and certain payments made to our marketing and advertising sales partners, including consumer electronics ("CE") manufacturers, multichannel video programming distributors ("MVPDs"), mobile operators and ISPs. Advertising expenses include promotional activities such as digital and television advertising. Marketing expenses also include payroll, stock-based compensation, facilities, and other related expenses for personnel that support sales and marketing activities.

Technology and development expenses consist primarily of payroll, stock-based compensation, facilities, and other related expenses for technology personnel responsible for making improvements to our service offerings, including testing, maintaining and modifying our user interface, our recommendations, merchandising and infrastructure. Technology and development expenses also include costs associated with general use computer hardware and software.

General and administrative expenses consist of payroll, stock-based compensation, facilities, and other related expenses for corporate personnel. General and administrative expenses also include professional fees and other general corporate expenses.

We anticipate that our future capital needs from the debt market will be more limited compared to prior years. Our ability to obtain this or any additional financing that we may choose or need, including for potential strategic acquisitions and investments, will depend on, among other things, our development efforts, business plans, operating performance, and the condition of the capital markets at the time we seek financing. We may not be able to obtain such financing on terms acceptable to us or at all. If we raise additional funds through the issuance of equity or debt securities, those securities may have rights, preferences or privileges senior to the rights of our common stock, and our stockholders may experience dilution.

Our primary uses of cash include the acquisition, licensing and production of content, marketing programs, streaming delivery and personnel-related costs, as well as strategic acquisitions and investments. Cash payment terms for non-original content have historically been in line with the amortization period. Investments in original content, and in particular content that we produce and own, require more cash upfront relative to licensed content. For example, production costs are paid as the content is created, well in advance of when the content is available on the service and amortized. We expect to continue to significantly invest in global content, particularly in original content, which will impact our liquidity. We currently anticipate that cash flows from operations, available funds and access to financing sources, including our revolving credit facility, will continue to be sufficient to meet our cash needs for the next twelve months and beyond.

Our material cash requirements from known contractual and other obligations primarily relate to our content, debt and lease obligations. As of December 31, 2023, the expected timing of those payments are as follows:

We define free cash flow as cash provided by (used in) operating activities less purchases of property and equipment and change in other assets. We believe free cash flow is an important liquidity metric because it measures, during a given period, the amount of cash generated that is available to repay debt obligations, make strategic acquisitions and investments and for certain other activities like stock repurchases. Free cash flow is considered a non-GAAP financial measure and should not be considered in isolation of, or as a substitute for, net income, operating income, net cash provided by operating activities, or any other measure of financial performance or liquidity presented in accordance with GAAP.

In assessing liquidity in relation to our results of operations, we compare free cash flow to net income, noting that the major recurring differences are the timing impact between content payments and amortization, non-cash stock-based compensation expense, non-cash remeasurement gain/loss on our euro-denominated debt, excess property and equipment purchases over depreciation, and other working capital differences. Working capital differences primarily include deferred revenue, taxes and semi-annual interest payments on our outstanding debt. Our receivables from members generally settle quickly.

We record a provision for income taxes for the anticipated tax consequences of our reported results of operations using the asset and liability method. Deferred income taxes are recognized by applying enacted statutory tax rates applicable to future years to differences between the financial statement carrying amounts of existing assets and liabilities and their respective tax bases as well as net operating loss and tax credit carryforwards. The effect on deferred tax assets and liabilities of a change in tax rates is recognized in income in the period that includes the enactment date. The measurement of deferred tax assets is reduced, if necessary, by a valuation allowance when it is more likely than not they will not be realized.

Although we believe our assumptions, judgments and estimates are reasonable, changes in tax laws or our interpretation of tax laws and the resolution of any tax audits could significantly impact the amounts provided for income taxes in our consolidated financial statements.

In evaluating our ability to recover our deferred tax assets, in full or in part, we consider all available positive and negative evidence, including our past operating results, and our forecast of future earnings, future taxable income and prudent and feasible tax planning strategies. The assumptions utilized in determining future taxable income require significant judgment and are consistent with the plans and estimates we are using to manage the underlying business. Actual operating results in future years could differ from our current assumptions, judgments and estimates.

We do not recognize certain tax benefits from uncertain tax positions within the provision for income taxes. We may recognize a tax benefit only if it is more likely than not the tax position will be sustained on examination by the taxing authorities, based on the technical merits of the position. The tax benefits recognized in the financial statements from such positions are then measured based on the largest benefit that has a greater than 50% likelihood of being realized upon settlement. Due to uncertainties in any tax audit outcome, our estimates of the ultimate settlement of our unrecognized tax positions may change and the actual tax benefits may differ significantly from the estimates.

The information set forth under Note 1 to the consolidated financial statements under the caption “Basis of Presentation and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies” is incorporated herein by reference.

We are exposed to market risks related to interest rate changes and the corresponding changes in the market values of our debt and foreign currency fluctuations.

At December 31, 2023, our cash equivalents and short-term investments were generally invested in money market funds and time deposits. Interest paid on such funds fluctuates with the prevailing interest rate.

The consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes listed in Part IV, Item 15(a)(1) of this Annual Report on Form 10-K are included immediately following Part IV hereof and incorporated by reference herein.

Our management, with the participation of our co-Chief Executive Officers and Chief Financial Officer, evaluated the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) under the Exchange Act) as of the end of the period covered by this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Based on that evaluation, our co-Chief Executive Officers and Chief Financial Officer concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures as of the end of the period covered by this Annual Report on Form 10-K were effective in providing reasonable assurance that information required to be disclosed by us in reports that we file or submit under the Exchange Act, is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the Securities and Exchange Commission’s rules and forms, and that such information is accumulated and communicated to our management, including our co-Chief Executive Officers and Chief Financial Officer, as appropriate, to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosures.

There was no change in our internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the quarter ended December 31, 2023 that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS

CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY

Netflix, Inc. (the “Company”) was incorporated on August 29, 1997 and began operations on April 14, 1998. The Company is one of the world’s leading entertainment services with over 260 million paid memberships in over 190 countries enjoying TV series, films and games across a wide variety of genres and languages. Members can play, pause and resume watching as much as they want, anytime, anywhere, and can change their plans at any time.

The consolidated financial statements include the accounts of the Company and its wholly-owned subsidiaries. Intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated.

The preparation of consolidated financial statements in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles ("GAAP") in the United States of America requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements, and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting periods. Significant items subject to such estimates and assumptions include the content asset amortization policy and the recognition and measurement of income tax assets and liabilities. The Company bases its estimates on historical experience and on various other assumptions that the Company believes to be reasonable under the circumstances. On an ongoing basis, the Company evaluates these assumptions, judgments and estimates. Actual results may differ from these estimates

The Company considers investments in instruments purchased with an original maturity of 90 days or less to be cash equivalents. The Company also classifies amounts in transit from payment processors for customer credit card and debit card transactions that it expects to settle within several days as cash equivalents.

The Company classifies short-term investments, which consist of marketable securities with original maturities in excess of 90 days as available-for-sale. Short-term investments are reported at fair value, with allowances for credit losses included in “Interest and other income (expense)” in the Consolidated Statements of Operations and unrealized gains and losses included in “Accumulated other comprehensive income (loss)” within Stockholders’ equity in the Consolidated Balance Sheets. The Company uses the specific identification method to determine cost in calculating realized gains and losses upon the sale of short-term investments.

Short-term investments are reviewed periodically for allowances for credit losses and impairment. When evaluating the investments, the Company reviews factors such as the extent to which the fair value of the security is less than the amortized cost basis, adverse conditions specifically related to the security, the financial condition of the issuer, the Company’s intent to sell, and whether it would be more likely than not that the Company would be required to sell the investments before the recovery of their amortized cost basis.

The Company uses its best estimates and assumptions to assign fair value to the tangible and intangible assets acquired and liabilities assumed at the acquisition date. In addition, uncertain tax positions, tax-related valuation allowances and pre-acquisition contingencies are initially recorded in connection with a business combination as of the acquisition date.

Property and equipment are carried at cost less accumulated depreciation. Depreciation is calculated using the straight-line method over the shorter of the estimated useful lives of the respective assets, generally up to 30 years, or the expected lease term for leasehold improvements, if applicable.

Trade receivables consist primarily of amounts related to members and payment partners that collect membership fees on the Company's behalf. The Company evaluates the need for an allowance for credit losses based on historical collection trends, the financial condition of its payment partners, and external market factors. The Company's allowance for credit losses was not material as of December 31, 2023 and December 31, 2022.

The Company uses derivative instruments to manage foreign exchange risk related to its ongoing business operations with the primary objective of reducing operating income and cash flow volatility associated with fluctuations in foreign exchange rates.

The Company enters into forward contracts to manage the foreign exchange risk on forecasted revenue transactions denominated in currencies other than the U.S. dollar, as well as the foreign exchange risk on forecasted transactions and firm commitments related to the licensing and production of foreign currency-denominated content assets. These forward contracts

The Company recognizes derivative instruments at fair value as either assets (presented in “Other current assets” and “Other non-current assets”) or liabilities (presented in “Accrued expenses and other liabilities'' and “Other non-current liabilities”) on the Company’s Consolidated Balance Sheets. The Company classifies derivative instruments in the Level 2 category within the fair value hierarchy.

In the event that the likelihood of occurrence of the underlying forecasted transactions is determined to be probable not to occur, the gains or losses on the related cash flow hedges are reclassified from AOCI to “Interest and other income (expense)” in the Consolidated Statements of Operations in the period of dedesignation.