Netflix’s market value has taken a massive hit, reportedly slipping from about $514 billion on September 27 to $489 billion by October 3, a decline of nearly $25 billion. Reportedly, almost $7 billion vanished right after Elon Musk’s October 1 post urging followers to drop their subscriptions. According to Yahoo Finance, Netflix shares fell dramatically on Friday, marking their biggest weekly decline since April 4.

Over the past five trading days, the stock dropped nearly 5% as Tesla CEO Elon Musk continued urging his 227 million followers on X to cancel Netflix subscriptions. Musk criticised the streamer for allegedly promoting transgender messaging in kids’ shows.

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Netflix shares drop as Elon Musk urges boycott

While the Nasdaq and overall markets climbed about 2% to record highs over the week, Netflix has lagged behind Big Tech peers like Amazon (AMZN) and Meta (META). On Thursday as well, Netflix shares opened lower, falling 1.2% before trimming losses to end 0.8% down, reaching $1,161 at 2:15 p.m. EDT, Forbes reported. The stock has dropped about 2.4% since Musk tweeted on Tuesday that he had cancelled his Netflix subscription. Over the past five trading days, Netflix shares have fallen 4.4%, even as the tech-heavy Nasdaq marks its fifth consecutive day of gains.

Some reports estimate that Netflix has lost over $15 billion in market value since Musk’s calls began. While conservative sources peg the number at around $25 billion. But regardless of the exact total, analysts agree the timing between Musk’s boycott call and the stock dip is hard to ignore.

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Elon Musk’s campaign against Netflix

Musk has repeatedly called for a boycott. On Tuesday, he wrote: “Cancel Netflix for the health of your kids.” The Billionaire CEO also reposted messages accusing Netflix of pushing a “transgender woke agenda.” These boycott comes amid the controversies surrounding the cancelled Netflix animated series, Dead End: Paranormal Park, directed by Hamish Steele.  Conservative critics claimed the show promoted progressive ideas they disagreed with.

Musk’s post was in response to another user who said they were leaving Netflix after Steele criticised conservative activist Charlie Kirk in an apparent tweet. In it, Hamish reportedly criticised UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s tweet mourning Charlie Kirk, calling Kirk a “random nazi,” according to the right-wing account Libs of TikTok. Dead End: Paranormal Park was cancelled in 2023 by the streamer. 

Responding to the backlash, Hamish, speaking on Bluesky said: “I have mostly been very ok today and found it all quite funny, while really appreciating everyone who has reached out, but the extremely nasty weird [homophobic] and antisemitic emails have started rolling in and it is getting a little scary so I apologise if I take longer to respond to stuff.”

Netflix earnings outlook

Netflix is set to report its third-quarter earnings on October 21. In its last earnings report, Netflix beat Wall Street expectations, with third-quarter revenue projected at $11.53 billion and EPS of $6.87. The company raised its full-year revenue outlook to $44.8–$45.2 billion. Executives said ad sales are on pace to double to roughly $3 billion next year.