Netflix announced on April 18, 2024 that it would stop routinely reporting quarterly paid-membership totals and average revenue per membership (ARM) beginning with its Q1 2025 earnings release. It said it would continue to discuss major subscriber milestones and publish engagement reports twice a year, alongside Q2 and Q4 results.
Which subscriber details did Netflix stop reporting?
The change applies to two recurring quarterly measures: paid memberships and average revenue per membership (ARM). Netflix did not announce that it would stop discussing membership growth altogether or that it would never disclose a subscriber total. It said it would announce major subscriber milestones as they occurred. Netflix’s Q1 2024 shareholder letter set out the change.
The first earnings release affected was Q1 2025. Netflix had already stopped providing quarterly paid-membership guidance in 2023, according to its explanation in the Q1 2024 letter.
Why did Netflix say it was changing its disclosures?
Netflix said memberships were only one component of growth as it developed other revenue streams, including advertising and its extra-member feature. It identified revenue and operating margin as its primary financial measures and engagement—time spent watching—as its best proxy for customer satisfaction. In the company’s words, “we’re focused on revenue and operating margin as our primary financial metrics — and engagement (i.e. time spent) as our best proxy for customer satisfaction.” That statement appeared in Netflix’s Q1 2024 shareholder letter.
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This is Netflix’s explanation of its preferred measures, not evidence that engagement answers every question a subscriber count or ARM can answer. Revenue and operating margin describe financial performance; engagement describes viewing activity. None, alone, gives a complete picture of the business.
What information did Netflix say it would continue to publish?
Major subscriber milestones
Netflix said it would announce major subscriber milestones when they occurred, rather than provide paid-membership totals on a regular quarterly schedule. That leaves open the possibility of future subscriber disclosures without promising a particular cadence.
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Twice-yearly engagement reports
In its Q4 2024 shareholder letter, Netflix said it would publish a biannual engagement report alongside Q2 and Q4 results starting with Q2 2025. The company said the report accounted for 99% of viewing on Netflix. Netflix’s Q4 2024 letter describes the schedule and coverage.
Financial and business updates
Netflix continued to report financial statements and regional revenue after the transition. Its Q1 2025 shareholder letter also referred broadly to membership growth in its forward-looking discussion; that wording is not a return to regular quarterly paid-membership totals. The Q1 2025 letter provides the post-transition example.
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How should investors interpret the change?
The shift changes what readers can compare directly from one quarterly report to the next. Before the change, paid-membership totals showed the scale and direction of the paid base, while ARM indicated average revenue per membership. Netflix’s stated focus on revenue, operating margin and engagement provides different information, not a like-for-like replacement for those two measures.
For context, Netflix reported that in Q4 2024 average paid memberships increased 15% year over year. ARM increased 1% year over year, or 3% on a foreign-exchange-neutral basis. These are dated figures from the final period before routine quarterly reporting ended; they should not be treated as current growth rates. Netflix’s Q4 2024 shareholder letter reports them.
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Netflix’s Q1 2026 shareholder letter continued to mention membership growth among its business outlook topics, but the reviewed forward-looking discussion did not list routine quarterly paid-membership totals as a reporting metric. The Q1 2026 letter illustrates the distinction between discussing growth and regularly publishing a count.
The official materials cited here do not establish whether exact quarterly paid-member totals or ARM can be independently reconstructed after the reporting change. It is therefore not possible to conclude from these disclosures alone that reconstruction is either possible or impossible.
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