Netflix projects $51 billion to $51.4 billion in 2026 revenue

Skydance plans to combine Paramount+ and HBO Max streaming platforms

Netflix projects 2026 revenue of $51 billion to $51.4 billion — a 13% to 14% increase over the prior year — and an operating margin of 31.5%, according to the company’s guidance. Separately, a merger between Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery is producing Skydance, which plans to combine the two companies’ competing streaming platforms, Paramount+ and HBO Max.

Netflix is the industry’s largest streaming service, with more than 325 million customers worldwide. The company continues to post strong revenue and profits and is expected to report its third-quarter earnings next week.

Several weeks ago at the Bloomberg Screentime conference, co-CEO Ted Sarandos told attendees that Netflix was “not growing as fast as I want.”

In a separate announcement, Netflix told employees Wednesday it will cut about 1,000 employees — roughly 6% of its workforce — in the streaming service’s largest layoffs since 2022. The cuts will primarily affect the company’s product, technology, legal and human resources teams, according to an email from Sarandos and co-CEO Greg Peters reported by Variety, The Hollywood Reporter and CNBC.

“Our mission — to entertain the world — is ambitious, and delivering on it requires us to be disciplined about where we prioritize our people and resources,” Sarandos and Peters wrote in the email. “Our business is strong and growing, and we remain on track to deliver our full year forecast.”

The co-CEOs added: “We’ll continue to invest aggressively in high impact areas to improve our service and further drive growth and innovation. Doing that means making focused choices across the business so we can keep delivering for our members, partners, employees and investors.”

They closed: “We know changes like this are tough, but let’s stay focused. This is one of the most dynamic times in the history of entertainment — and it’s a moment perfectly suited to a company like ours that’s built at the intersection of technology and entertainment.”

The layoffs come against the backdrop of the Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery merger, which is producing Skydance to combine the two companies’ streaming platforms — Paramount+ and HBO Max.