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The bloodbath at Netflix continued Tuesday as the far left-wing streamer laid off around 150 employees as part of its ongoing efforts to cut spending amid a catastrophic subscriber forecast for the months ahead.
Compounding the company’s woes, several hedge funds reportedly dumped Netflix shares ahead of the streamer’s recent first quarter earnings report, signaling a broader lack of confidence from Wall Street than previously known.
Netflix canned around 150 employees Tuesday, largely based in the U.S., with a significant portion in creative positions, both in film and TV, according to a report from Deadline.
“Our slowing revenue growth means we are also having to slow our cost growth as a company. So sadly, we are letting around 150 employees go today, mostly US-based,” a Netflix spokesperson said in a statement to Deadline.
“These changes are primarily driven by business needs rather than individual performance, which makes them especially tough as none of us want to say goodbye to such great colleagues. We’re working hard to support them through this very difficult transition.”
Netflix CEO Reed Hastings, left, poses with Ted Sarandos, chief content officer of Netflix, during a news conference in Seoul, South Korea. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon, File)
Netflix recently laid off staff in its animation department as well as its in-house fan site Tudum.
The cost cutting follows Netflix’s disastrous first-quarter report showing the streamer lost 200,000 subscribers and expects to lose a stunning 2 million more in the months ahead. Shares of Netflix plummeted nearly 40 percent following the news.
For the year, Netflix’s stock is down a whopping 68 percent.
Several hedge funds dumped their Netflix holdings prior to the earnings announcement, suggesting widespread pessimism toward the company on Wall Street, according to multiple reports.
Funds including Tiger Global Management, Winslow Capital Management, and Scopus Asset Management sold off the entirety of their Netflix shares.
As Breitbart News reported, hedge fund billionaire Bill Ackman recently dumped the 3.1 million shares of Netflix that his fund purchased just a few months ago, saying he has lost confidence in the ability to predict the streamer’s future prospects.
Adding to its problems, Netflix is now facing a shareholder lawsuit accusing executives of misleading the public about the company’s subscriber growth.
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