EDGAR 10-K Filing

Company CIK: 1065280
Filing Year: 2023
Filename: 1065280_10-K_2023_0001065280-23-000035.json

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ITEM 1. BUSINESS
Item 1.Business
ABOUT US
Netflix, Inc. (“Netflix”, “the Company”, “registrant”, “we”, or “us”) is one of the world’s leading entertainment services with approximately 231 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 to watch 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.
BUSINESS SEGMENTS
We operate as one operating segment. Our revenues are primarily derived from monthly membership fees for services related to streaming content to our members. See Note 12, Segment and Geographic Information, in the accompanying notes to our consolidated financial statements for further detail.
COMPETITION
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.
SEASONALITY
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.
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
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.
REGULATION
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.
HUMAN CAPITAL
We view our employees and our culture as key to our success. As of December 31, 2022, we had approximately 12,800 full-time employees located globally in 65 countries. Of these, approximately 9,000 (70%) were located in the United States and Canada, 2,000 (16%) in Europe, Middle East, and Africa, 400 (3%) in Latin America and 1,400 (11%) 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 a high-performance culture of freedom and responsibility. 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 the 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 have also become 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 an Inclusion report annually 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 help our leaders (officers, VPs and director-level employees) examine values that guide them personally, and as leaders, especially when those values come into tension with the world around us. The goal of these programs is to create great human beings, who become great
leaders, who shape a great company. We also offer programs and workshops to provide skills and coaching to employees on a variety of topics, such as leading and inspiring teams. We believe this focus helps our employees grow as leaders and well-rounded individuals, and better positions Netflix to operate our global business of providing compelling content to entertain the world.
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.
OTHER INFORMATION
We maintain a website at www.netflix.com. The contents of our website are not incorporated in, or otherwise to be regarded as part of, this Annual Report on Form 10-K. We make available, free of charge on our website, access to our Annual Report on Form 10-K, our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, our Current Reports on Form 8-K and amendments to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the "Exchange Act"), as soon as reasonably practicable after we file or furnish them electronically with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC").
Investors and others should note that we announce material financial information to our investors using our investor relations website (ir.netflix.net), SEC filings, press releases, public conference calls and webcasts. We use these channels as well as social media and blogs to communicate with our members and the public about our company, our services and other issues. It is possible that the information we post on social media and blogs could be deemed to be material information. Therefore, we encourage investors, the media, and others interested in our company to review the information we post on the social media channels and blogs listed on our investor relations website.

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ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS
Item 1A.Risk Factors
If any of the following risks actually occur, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be harmed. In that case, the trading price of our common stock could decline, and you could lose all or part of your investment.
Risks Related to Our Business
If our efforts to attract and retain members are not successful, our business will be adversely affected.
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.
If we do not continuously provide value to our members, including making improvements to our service in a manner that is favorably received by them, our revenue, results of operations and business will be adversely affected.
If consumers do not perceive our service offering to be of value, including if we introduce new or adjust existing features, adjust pricing or service offerings, or change the mix of content in a manner that is not favorably received by them, we may not be able to attract and retain members, and accordingly, our revenue, including revenue per paying membership, and results of operations may be adversely affected. We have recently expanded our entertainment video offering to include games. If our efforts to develop and offer games are not valued by our current and future members, our ability to attract and retain members may be negatively impacted. We may, from time to time, adjust our membership pricing, our membership plans, or our pricing model itself. For example, we recently introduced a new, lower-priced ad-supported subscription plan. Similarly, we have increased and anticipate continuing to increase our efforts to limit multi-household usage and to otherwise enforce our terms of use relative to shared viewing outside 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.
Changes in competitive offerings for entertainment video could adversely impact our business.
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 meaningful segments of the entertainment video market. Traditional providers of entertainment video, including broadcasters and cable network operators, as well as internet based e-commerce or entertainment video providers are increasing their streaming video offerings. Several of these competitors have long operating histories, large customer bases, strong brand recognition, exclusive rights to certain content, large content libraries, and significant financial, marketing and other resources.
They may offer more compelling content or secure better terms from suppliers, adopt more aggressive pricing and devote more resources to product development, technology, infrastructure, content acquisitions and marketing. New entrants may enter the market or existing providers may adjust their services with unique offerings or approaches to providing entertainment video. Companies also may enter into business combinations or alliances that strengthen their competitive positions. Piracy also threatens to damage our business, as its fundamental proposition to consumers is so compelling and difficult to compete against: virtually all content for free, and in light of the compelling consumer proposition, piracy services are subject to rapid global growth. If we are unable to successfully or profitably compete with current and new competitors, our business will be adversely affected, and we may not be able to increase or maintain market share, revenues or profitability.
We face risks, such as unforeseen costs and potential liability in connection with content we acquire, produce, license and/or distribute through our service.
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 mobile 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, which have been heightened during the COVID-19 pandemic. Further, negotiations or renewals related to entertainment industry collective bargaining agreements 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, 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.
If we are not able to manage change and growth, our business could be adversely affected.
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. 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, 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 manage the growing complexity of our business, including improving, refining or revising our corporate culture, as well as our systems and operational practices related to our streaming operations and original content, our business may be adversely affected.
If we fail to maintain a positive reputation concerning our service and the content we offer, we may not be able to attract or retain members, we may face regulatory scrutiny and our operating results may be adversely affected.
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. To the extent the content we distribute and the manner in which we produce content creates ESG related concerns, our reputation may be harmed.
Our business could be adversely impacted by costs and challenges associated with strategic acquisitions and investments.
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 rely upon a number of partners to make our service available on their devices.
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 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.
We are subject to payment processing risk.
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.
If government regulations relating to the internet or other areas of our business change, we may need to alter the manner in which we conduct our business, or incur greater operating expenses.
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.
We are engaged in legal proceedings that could cause us to incur unforeseen expenses and could occupy a significant amount of our management's time and attention.
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, from time to time, 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.
Our ad-supported plan offering is new and subject to various risks and uncertainties, which may adversely affect our business.
We began offering an ad-supported subscription plan that generates revenue partially from digital advertising on our service. We have limited experience and operating history offering advertising on our service, and our advertising revenue may not grow as we expect. Our ad-supported plan offering and our ability to generate advertising revenue are subject to various risks and will depend on a number of factors, including:
•our ability to attract and retain advertisers;
•fluctuations in memberships, including those selecting the ad-supported subscription plan, and member engagement;
•the quantity or quality of ads shown to our members;
•our ability to compete effectively for advertising spend;
•the impact of seasonal, cyclical or other shifts in advertising spend, including the impact of macroeconomic conditions;
•the availability, accuracy, utility, and security of analytics and measurement solutions offered by us or third parties that demonstrate the value of our ads to marketers, or our ability to further improve such tools;
•changes in the way advertising on devices, connected TVs or on personal computers is measured or priced;
•adverse legal developments relating to advertising or measurement tools;
•changes in third-party policies, which may negatively impact the ability to measure, deliver and select ads to be served;
•regulatory, legislative and industry developments relating to the collection and use of information and other privacy considerations, including regulations related to ad targeting and measurement tools;
•any liability or reputational harm from advertisements shown on our service;
•our relationship with third-party service providers for the management, sale and technology to support advertisements on our service;
•the impact of our content and reputation on advertisers’ willingness to spend with us; and
•any member dissatisfaction due to advertisements.
The ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic disrupted our business, increased our costs, led to delays in content releases and may again impact our business and results of operations.
The COVID-19 pandemic and the various responses to it created significant volatility, uncertainty and economic disruption. Recently, there has been a return to more normal societal interactions, including the way we operate our business. We cannot predict the future impacts of this ongoing and any new pandemic(s), including: the duration and scope of such pandemic; governmental, business and individuals’ actions that may be taken in response; the effect on our members and consumer demand for and ability to pay for our services; disruptions or restrictions on our employees’ ability to work and travel; and any stoppages, disruptions or increased costs associated with our development, production, post-production, marketing and distribution of original programming. Future disruptions arising from the ongoing and any new pandemics could have a significant negative impact on our costs of doing business and otherwise negatively impact our results of operations.
We will continue to actively monitor the issues raised by the COVID-19 pandemic and may take further actions that alter our business operations, including content production, as may be required by federal, state, local or foreign authorities, or that we determine are in the best interests of our employees, members, partners and stockholders. It is not clear what the potential effects any such alterations or modifications may have on our business, including the effects on our members, suppliers or vendors, or on our financial results.
In addition to the potential direct impacts to our business, the global economy may continue to be impacted as a result of the actions taken in response to COVID-19. To the extent that such a weakened global economy impacts consumers’ ability or willingness to pay for our service or vendors’ ability to provide services to us, especially those related to our content productions, we could see our business and results of operations negatively impacted.
Risks Related to Intellectual Property
If studios, content providers or other rights holders refuse to license streaming content or other rights upon terms acceptable to us, our business could be adversely affected.
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 could expose us to greater distribution expenses.
If our trademarks and other proprietary rights are not adequately protected to prevent use or appropriation by third parties, the value of our brand and other intangible assets may be diminished, and our business may be adversely affected.
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 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.
Intellectual property claims against us could be costly and result in the loss of significant rights related to, among other things, our website, streaming technology, our recommendation and merchandising technology, title selection processes, our content, and marketing activities.
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 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. 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. 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.
Risks Related to Information Technology
Any significant disruption in or unauthorized access to our computer systems or those of third parties that we utilize in our operations, including those relating to cybersecurity or arising from cyber-attacks, could result in a loss or degradation of service, unauthorized disclosure of data, including member and corporate information, or theft of intellectual property, including digital content assets, which could adversely impact our business.
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, terrorist attacks, rogue employees, power loss, telecommunications failures, and cybersecurity risks. 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 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 cybersecurity threats, including cyber-attacks such as computer viruses, denial of service attacks, physical or electronic break-ins and similar disruptions. 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. 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) may 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. Our insurance does not 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 mobile 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.
We rely upon Amazon Web Services to operate certain aspects of our service and any disruption of or interference with our use of the Amazon Web Services operation would impact our operations and our business would be adversely impacted.
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.
If the technology we use in operating our business fails, is unavailable, or does not operate to expectations, our business and results of operations could be adversely impacted.
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, including as a result of “bugs” or other errors in our development and deployment of software, our ability to operate our service, retain existing members and add new members may be impaired. Any harm to our members’ devices caused by software used in our operations could have an adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.
Changes in how network operators handle and charge for access to data that travel across their networks could adversely impact our business.
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.
Risks Related to Privacy
Privacy concerns could limit our ability to collect and leverage member personal information and other data and disclosure of member personal information and other data could adversely impact our business and reputation.
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 CCPA/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 information and other data, could have an adverse effect on our business. In addition, if we were to disclose information and other data 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.
Our reputation and relationships with members would be harmed if member personal information and other data, particularly billing data, were to be accessed by unauthorized persons.
We maintain personal information and other data regarding our members, including names, age, gender and billing information. This information and data 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 and other data. 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 and other data. 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 breach. We also maintain personal information and other data concerning our employees, as well as personal information of others working on our productions. Should an unauthorized intrusion into our members’ or employees’ personal information and other data and/or production personal information occur, our business could be adversely affected and our larger reputation with respect to data protection could be negatively impacted.
Risks Related to Liquidity
The long-term and largely fixed cost nature of our content commitments may limit our operating flexibility and could adversely affect our liquidity and results of operations.
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 7, 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 cashflow 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.
We may seek additional capital that may result in stockholder dilution or that may have rights senior to those of our common stockholders.
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, which could adversely affect our financial position, and we may not be able to generate sufficient cash to service our debt and other obligations.
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 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, 2022, we had the equivalent of $14.4 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, 2022, we have not borrowed any amount under this revolving credit facility. As of December 31, 2022, we had approximately $7.6 billion of total content liabilities as reflected on our consolidated balance sheet, some of which is denominated in currencies other than the U.S. dollar. Such amount does not include streaming content commitments that do not meet the criteria for liability recognition, the amounts of which are significant. For more information on our streaming content obligations, including those not on our consolidated balance sheet, see Note 7, 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. Our substantial indebtedness and other obligations, including streaming content obligations, may:
•make it difficult for us to satisfy our financial obligations, including making scheduled principal and interest payments on our Notes and our other obligations;
•limit our ability to borrow additional funds, if needed, for working capital, capital expenditures, acquisitions or other general business purposes;
•increase our cost of borrowing;
•limit our ability to use our cash flow or obtain additional financing for future working capital, capital expenditures, acquisitions or other general business purposes;
•require us to use a substantial portion of our cash flow from operations to make debt service payments and pay our other obligations when due;
•limit our flexibility to plan for, or react to, changes in our business and industry;
•place us at a competitive disadvantage compared to our less leveraged competitors; and
•increase our vulnerability to the impact of adverse economic and industry conditions, including changes in interest rates and foreign exchange rates.
Risks Related to International Operations
We could be subject to economic, political, regulatory and other risks arising from our international operations.
Operating in international markets requires significant resources and management attention and will subject us to economic, political, regulatory and other risks that may be different from or incremental to those in the U.S. In addition to the risks that we face in the U.S., our international operations involve risks that could adversely affect our business, including:
•the need to adapt our content and user interfaces for specific cultural and language differences;
•difficulties and costs associated with staffing and managing foreign operations;
•political or social unrest, global hostilities, and economic instability;
•compliance with laws such as the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, UK Bribery Act and other anti-corruption laws, export controls and economic sanctions, and local laws prohibiting corrupt payments to government officials;
•difficulties in understanding and complying with local laws, regulations and customs in foreign jurisdictions, including local ownership requirements for streaming content providers;
•regulatory requirements or government action against our service, whether in response to enforcement of actual or purported legal and regulatory requirements or otherwise, that results in disruption or non-availability of our service or particular content in the applicable jurisdiction;
•foreign intellectual property laws, such as the EU copyright directive, or changes to such laws, which may be less favorable than U.S. law and, among other issues, may impact the economics of creating or distributing content, anti-piracy efforts, or our ability to protect or exploit intellectual property rights;
•adverse tax consequences such as those related to changes in tax laws or tax rates or their interpretations, and the related application of judgment in determining our global provision for income taxes, deferred tax assets or liabilities or other tax liabilities given the ultimate tax determination is uncertain;
•fluctuations in currency exchange rates, which have and may continue to impact revenues and expenses of our international operations and expose us to foreign currency exchange rate risk, which we do not currently hedge against but may do so in the future;
•profit repatriation and other restrictions on the transfer of funds;
•differing payment processing systems as well as consumer use and acceptance of electronic payment methods, such as payment cards;
•new and different sources of competition;
•censorship requirements that cause us to remove or edit popular content, leading to consumer disappointment, brand tarnishment or dissatisfaction with our service;
•low usage and/or penetration of internet-connected consumer electronic devices;
•different and more stringent user protection, data protection, privacy and other laws, including data localization and/or restrictions on data export, and local ownership requirements;
•availability of reliable broadband connectivity and wide area networks in targeted areas for expansion;
•differing, and often more lenient, laws and consumer understanding/attitudes regarding the illegality of piracy;
•negative impacts from trade disputes; and
•implementation of regulations designed to stimulate the local production of film and TV series in order to promote and preserve local culture and economic activity, including local content quotas, investment obligations, and levies to support local film funds. For example, the European Union revised its Audio Visual Media Services Directive in 2018 to require that European works comprise at least thirty percent (30%) of media service providers’ catalogs, and to require prominence of those works.
These and other factors may cause us to adjust our business plans, including expanding or ceasing certain operations in certain countries, and the execution of our strategies. Our failure to manage any of these risks successfully could harm our international operations and our overall business, and results of our operations.
We are subject to taxation related risks in multiple jurisdictions.
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 tax assets or liabilities and in evaluating our tax positions on a worldwide basis. While we believe our tax positions are consistent with the tax laws in the jurisdictions in which we conduct our business, it is possible that these positions may be challenged by jurisdictional tax authorities, which may have a significant impact on our global provision for taxes.
Tax laws are 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 foreign 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.
Risks Related to Human Resources
We may lose key employees or may be unable to hire qualified employees, and the failure to maintain and improve our company culture may adversely affect our business.
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 and the hiring of new qualified 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.
Labor disputes may have an adverse effect on the Company’s business.
Our partners, suppliers, vendors and we employ the services of writers, directors, actors and other talent as well as 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, then it is possible that the affected unions could take action in the form of strikes or work stoppages. Such actions, as well as higher costs or operating complexities in connection with these collective bargaining agreements or a significant labor dispute, could have an adverse effect on our business by causing delays in
production, added costs or by reducing profit margins, and our ability to provide new content to our members could likewise be delayed or dropped.
Risks Related to Our Stock Ownership
Provisions in our charter documents and under Delaware law could discourage a takeover that stockholders may consider favorable, although we have announced plans to modify some of these provisions over time.
Our charter documents in their current form may discourage, delay or prevent a merger or acquisition that a stockholder may consider favorable because they:
•authorize our board of directors, without stockholder approval, to issue up to 10,000,000 shares of undesignated preferred stock;
•provide for a classified board of directors until our annual meeting of stockholders held in 2025;
•prohibit our stockholders from acting by written consent; and
•establish advance notice requirements for proposing matters to be approved by stockholders at stockholder meetings.
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.
Our stock price is volatile.
The price at which our common stock has traded has fluctuated significantly. The price may continue to be volatile due to a number of factors including the following, some of which are beyond our control:
•variations in our operating results, including our membership acquisition and retention, revenues, operating income, net income, net cash provided by operating activities and free cash flow;
•variations between our actual operating results and the expectations of securities analysts, investors and the financial community;
•announcements of developments affecting our business, systems or expansion plans by us or others;
•competition, including the introduction of new competitors, their pricing strategies and services;
•market volatility in general;
•the level of demand for our stock, including the amount of short interest in our stock;
•the impact of our current stock repurchase program and any future stock repurchase program we may adopt;
•the operating results of our competitors; and
•other risks and uncertainties described in these risk factors.
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.
Preparing and forecasting our financial results requires us to make judgments and estimates which may differ materially from actual results.
Given the dynamic nature of our business, and the inherent limitations in predicting the future, forecasts of our revenues, operating margins, net income and other financial and operating data may differ materially from actual results. Also, predicting consumer adoption of various pricing strategies, such as the ad-supported subscription plan or efforts to limit multi-household usage, and new revenue streams, such as advertising revenue, is inherently difficult given the lack of operating history with respect to such offerings, and actual results may differ significantly from the expectations of our management, securities analysts or investors. Such discrepancies could cause a decline in the trading price of our common stock. In addition, the preparation of consolidated financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United
States of America also requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, disclosures of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements, and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reported periods. We base such estimates on historical experience and on various other assumptions that we believe to be reasonable under the circumstances, but actual results may differ from these estimates. For example, we estimate the content amortization pattern, beginning with the month of first availability, of any particular licensed or produced television series, documentary or feature film based upon various factors including historical and estimated viewing patterns. If actual viewing patterns differ from these estimates, the pattern and/or period of amortization would be changed and could affect the timing or recognition of content amortization. If we revise such estimates it could result in greater in-period expenses, which could cause us to miss our earnings guidance or negatively impact the results we report which could negatively impact our stock price. Further, events outside of our control may cause actual results to differ from our forecast. For example, the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted historical acquisition and retention patterns, and has made forecasting more difficult.

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ITEM 1B. UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS
Item 1B.Unresolved Staff Comments
None.

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ITEM 2. PROPERTIES
Item 2.Properties
We have leased principal properties in both Los Gatos, California, which is the location of our corporate headquarters, and in Los Angeles, California. In addition, we lease various office and production space throughout the world.
We believe that our existing facilities are adequate to meet current requirements, and that suitable additional or substitute space will be available as needed to accommodate any further physical expansion of operations and for any additional offices.

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ITEM 3. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS
Item 3.Legal Proceedings
Information with respect to this item may be found in Note 7 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, under the caption "Legal Proceedings" which information is incorporated herein by reference.

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ITEM 4. MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURE
Item 4.Mine Safety Disclosures
Not applicable.
PART II

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ITEM 5. MARKET FOR REGISTRANT'S COMMON EQUITY
Item 5.Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities
Market Information
Our common stock is traded on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol “NFLX”.
Holders
As of December 31, 2022, there were approximately 2,788 stockholders of record of our common stock, although there is a significantly larger number of beneficial owners of our common stock.
Dividend Policy
We have never declared or paid any cash dividends on our capital stock, and we do not currently anticipate paying any cash dividends in the foreseeable future.
Company Purchases of Equity Securities
In March 2021, the Company’s Board of Directors authorized the repurchase of up to $5 billion of its common stock, with no expiration date. There were no repurchases during the quarter ended December 31, 2022. As of December 31, 2022, $4.4 billion remains available for repurchases.
Stock Performance Graph
Notwithstanding any statement to the contrary in any of our previous or future filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the following information relating to the price performance of our common stock shall not be deemed “filed” with the Commission or “soliciting material” under the Exchange Act and shall not be incorporated by reference into any such filings.
The following graph compares, for the five year period ended December 31, 2022, the total cumulative stockholder return on the Company’s common stock with the total cumulative return of the NASDAQ Composite Index, the S&P 500 Index and the RDG Internet Composite Index. Measurement points are the last trading day of each of the Company’s fiscal years ended December 31, 2017, December 31, 2018, December 31, 2019, December 31, 2020, December 31, 2021 and December 31, 2022. Total cumulative stockholder return assumes $100 invested at the beginning of the period in the Company’s common stock, the stocks represented in the NASDAQ Composite Index, the stocks represented in the S&P 500 Index and the stocks represented in the RDG Internet Composite Index, respectively, and reinvestment of any dividends. Historical stock price performance should not be relied upon as an indication of future stock price performance.

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ITEM 6. SELECTED FINANCIAL DATA
Item 6.[Reserved]

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ITEM 7. MANAGEMENT'S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS
Item 7.Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations
This section of this Form 10-K generally discusses 2022 and 2021 items and year-to-year comparisons between 2022 and 2021. Discussions of 2020 items and year-to-year comparisons between 2021 and 2020 that are not included in this Form 10-K can be found in "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" in Part II, Item 7 of the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021.
Results of Operations
The following represents our consolidated performance highlights:
As of/ Year Ended December 31, Change
2022 2021 2020 2022 vs. 2021
(in thousands, except revenue per membership and percentages)
Financial Results:
Streaming revenues $ 31,469,852 $ 29,515,496 $ 24,756,675 7 %
DVD revenues 145,698 182,348 239,381 (20) %
Total revenues $ 31,615,550 $ 29,697,844 $ 24,996,056 6 %
Operating income $ 5,632,831 $ 6,194,509 $ 4,585,289 (9) %
Operating margin 18 % 21 % 18 %
Global Streaming Memberships:
Paid net membership additions 8,903 18,181 36,573 (51) %
Paid memberships at end of period 230,747 221,844 203,663 4 %
Average paying memberships 222,924 210,784 189,083 6 %
Average monthly revenue per paying membership $ 11.76 $ 11.67 $ 10.91 1 %
Consolidated revenues for the year ended December 31, 2022 increased 6% as compared to the year ended December 31, 2021, due to the 6% growth in average paying memberships and a 1% increase in average monthly revenue per paying membership. The increase in average monthly revenue per paying membership resulted from our price changes, partially offset by the strengthening of the U.S. dollar relative to certain foreign currencies.
The decrease in operating margin is primarily due to revenues growing at a slower rate as compared to the 15% increase in content amortization. Revenue growth during the year was impacted by fluctuations in foreign exchange rates, while content amortization increased as a result of delays in content releases due to the COVID-19 pandemic impacting the comparable prior year period.
The COVID-19 pandemic and the various responses to it created significant volatility, uncertainty and economic disruption. Recently, there has been a return to more normal societal interactions, including the way we operate our business. We cannot predict the future impacts of this ongoing and any new pandemic(s). See Part I, Item IA: "Risk Factors" in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for additional details.
Streaming Revenues
We derive revenues from monthly membership fees for services related to streaming content to our members. We offer a variety of streaming membership plans, the price of which varies by country and the features of the plan. As of December 31, 2022, pricing on our paid plans ranged from the U.S. dollar equivalent of $1 to $26 per month. We expect that from time to time the prices of our membership plans in each country may change and we may test other plan and price variations.
The following tables summarize streaming revenue and other streaming membership information by region for the years ended December 31, 2022, 2021 and 2020.
United States and Canada (UCAN)
As of/ Year Ended December 31, Change
2022 2021 2020 2022 vs. 2021
(in thousands, except revenue per membership and percentages)
Revenues $ 14,084,643 $ 12,972,100 $ 11,455,396 $ 1,112,543 9 %
Paid net membership additions (losses) (919) 1,279 6,274 (2,198) (172) %
Paid memberships at end of period (1) 74,296 75,215 73,936 (919) (1) %
Average paying memberships 74,001 74,234 71,689 (233) - %
Average monthly revenue per paying membership $ 15.86 $ 14.56 $ 13.32 $ 1.30 9 %
Constant currency change (2) 9 %
Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA)
As of/ Year Ended December 31, Change
2022 2021 2020 2022 vs. 2021
(in thousands, except revenue per membership and percentages)
Revenues $ 9,745,015 $ 9,699,819 $ 7,772,252 $ 45,196 - %
Paid net membership additions 2,693 7,338 14,920 (4,645) (63) %
Paid memberships at end of period (1) 76,729 74,036 66,698 2,693 4 %
Average paying memberships 73,904 69,518 60,425 4,386 6 %
Average monthly revenue per paying membership $ 10.99 $ 11.63 $ 10.72 $ (0.64) (6) %
Constant currency change (2) 6 %
Latin America (LATAM)
As of/ Year Ended December 31, Change
2022 2021 2020 2022 vs. 2021
(in thousands, except revenue per membership and percentages)
Revenues $ 4,069,973 $ 3,576,976 $ 3,156,727 $ 492,997 14 %
Paid net membership additions 1,738 2,424 6,120 (686) (28) %
Paid memberships at end of period (1) 41,699 39,961 37,537 1,738 4 %
Average paying memberships 40,000 38,573 35,297 1,427 4 %
Average monthly revenue per paying membership $ 8.48 $ 7.73 $ 7.45 $ 0.75 10 %
Constant currency change (2) 14 %
Asia-Pacific (APAC)
As of/ Year Ended December 31, Change
2022 2021 2020 2022 vs. 2021
(in thousands, except revenue per membership and percentages)
Revenues $ 3,570,221 $ 3,266,601 $ 2,372,300 $ 303,620 9 %
Paid net membership additions 5,391 7,140 9,259 (1,749) (24) %
Paid memberships at end of period (1) 38,023 32,632 25,492 5,391 17 %
Average paying memberships 35,019 28,461 21,674 6,558 23 %
Average monthly revenue per paying membership $ 8.50 $ 9.56 $ 9.12 $ (1.06) (11) %
Constant currency change (2) (2) %
(1) A paid membership (also referred to as a paid subscription) is defined as a membership that has the right to receive Netflix service following sign-up and a method of payment being provided, and that is not part of a free trial or certain other promotions that may be offered by the Company to new or rejoining members. Certain members have the option to add extra member sub accounts. These extra member sub accounts are not included in paid memberships. A membership is canceled and ceases to be reflected in the above metrics as of the effective cancellation date. Voluntary cancellations generally become effective at the end of the prepaid membership period. Involuntary cancellations, as a result of a failed method of payment, become effective immediately. Memberships are assigned to territories based on the geographic location used at time of sign-up as determined by the Company’s internal systems, which utilize industry standard geo-location technology.
(2) We believe constant currency information is useful in analyzing the underlying trends in average monthly revenue per paying membership. In order to exclude the effect of foreign currency rate fluctuations on average monthly revenue per paying membership, we estimate current period revenue assuming foreign exchange rates had remained constant with foreign exchange rates from each of the corresponding months of the prior-year period. For the year ended December 31, 2022, our revenues would have been approximately $1,773 million higher had foreign currency exchange rates remained constant with those for the year ended December 31, 2021.
Cost of Revenues
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 and 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.
Year Ended December 31, Change
2022 2021 2020 2022 vs. 2021
(in thousands, except percentages)
Cost of revenues $ 19,168,285 $ 17,332,683 $ 15,276,319 $ 1,835,602 11 %
As a percentage of revenues 61 % 58 % 61 %
The increase in cost of revenues for the year ended December 31, 2022 as compared to the year ended December 31, 2021 was primarily due to a $1,796 million increase in content amortization relating to our existing and new content, including more exclusive and original programming.
Marketing
Marketing expenses consist primarily of advertising expenses and certain payments made to our marketing 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 and related expenses for personnel that support marketing activities.
Year Ended December 31, Change
2022 2021 2020 2022 vs. 2021
(in thousands, except percentages)
Marketing $ 2,530,502 $ 2,545,146 $ 2,228,362 $ (14,644) (1) %
As a percentage of revenues 8 % 9 % 9 %
Marketing expenses for the year ended December 31, 2022 as compared to the year ended December 31, 2021 remained relatively flat.
Technology and Development
Technology and development expenses consist primarily of payroll and 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.
Year Ended December 31, Change
2022 2021 2020 2022 vs. 2021
(in thousands, except percentages)
Technology and development $ 2,711,041 $ 2,273,885 $ 1,829,600 $ 437,156 19 %
As a percentage of revenues 9 % 8 % 7 %
The increase in technology and development expenses for the year ended December 31, 2022 as compared to the year ended December 31, 2021 was primarily due to a $386 million increase in personnel-related costs.
General and Administrative
General and administrative expenses consist of payroll and related expenses for corporate personnel. General and administrative expenses also include professional fees and other general corporate expenses.
Year Ended December 31, Change
2022 2021 2020 2022 vs. 2021
(in thousands, except percentages)
General and administrative $ 1,572,891 $ 1,351,621 $ 1,076,486 $ 221,270 16 %
As a percentage of revenues 5 % 5 % 4 %
The increase in general and administrative expenses for the year ended December 31, 2022 as compared to the year ended December 31, 2021 was primarily due to a $224 million increase in personnel-related costs.
Interest Expense
Interest expense consists primarily of the interest associated with our outstanding debt obligations, including the amortization of debt issuance costs. See Note 6 Debt 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 for further detail on our debt obligations.
Year Ended December 31, Change
2022 2021 2020 2022 vs. 2021
(in thousands, except percentages)
Interest expense $ 706,212 $ 765,620 $ 767,499 $ (59,408) (8) %
As a percentage of revenues 2 % 3 % 3 %
Interest expense for the year ended December 31, 2022 consisted primarily of $698 million of interest on our Notes. The decrease in interest expense for the year ended December 31, 2022 as compared to the year ended December 31, 2021 was due to the lower average aggregate principal of interest bearing notes outstanding.
Interest and Other Income (Expense)
Interest and other income (expense) consists primarily of foreign exchange gains and losses on foreign currency denominated balances and interest earned on cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments.
Year Ended December 31, Change
2022 2021 2020 2022 vs. 2021
(in thousands, except percentages)
Interest and other income (expense) $ 337,310 $ 411,214 $ (618,441) $ (73,904) (18) %
As a percentage of revenues 1 % 1 % (2) %
Interest and other income (expense) decreased primarily due to a foreign exchange gain of $282 million for the year ended December 31, 2022 as compared to a gain of $403 million for the year ended December 31, 2021. The foreign exchange gain in the year ended December 31, 2022 was primarily driven by the non-cash $353 million gain from the remeasurement of our Senior Notes denominated in euros, partially offset by the remeasurement of cash and content liability positions in currencies other than the functional currencies. The foreign exchange gain in the year ended December 31, 2021 was primarily driven by the non-cash $431 million gain from the remeasurement of our Senior Notes denominated in euros, partially offset by the remeasurement of cash and content liability positions in currencies other than the functional currencies.
Provision for Income Taxes
Year Ended December 31, Change
2022 2021 2020 2022 vs. 2021
(in thousands, except percentages)
Provision for income taxes $ 772,005 $ 723,875 $ 437,954 $ 48,130 7 %
Effective tax rate 15 % 12 % 14 %
The increase in our effective tax rate for the year ended December 31, 2022 as compared to the year ended December 31, 2021 is primarily due to a reduction in excess tax benefits of stock-based compensation and an increase in foreign taxes, partially offset by the impact of international provisions of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and the Federal and California Research and Development ("R&D") credits.
In 2022, the difference between our 15% effective tax rate and the Federal statutory rate of 21% was primarily due to the impact of international provisions of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, Federal and California R&D credits, and the recognition of excess tax benefits of stock-based compensation.
Under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, research and development costs are no longer fully deductible and are required to be capitalized and amortized for U.S. tax purposes effective January 1, 2022. The mandatory capitalization requirement increases our deferred tax assets and cash tax liabilities.
On August 16, 2022, Congress passed the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. The tax provisions most applicable to us are the newly introduced 15% corporate alternative minimum tax on book income and 1% excise tax on stock repurchases, which are both effective January 1, 2023. While we do not anticipate these changes to be significant, they could impact our consolidated financial position and we will continue to monitor as new information and guidance becomes available.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
Year Ended December 31, Change
2022 2021 2022 vs. 2021
(in thousands, except percentages)
Cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash and short-term investments $ 6,081,858 $ 6,055,111 $ 26,747 - %
Short-term and long-term debt 14,353,076 15,392,895 (1,039,819) (7) %
Cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash and short-term investments increased $27 million in the year ended December 31, 2022 primarily due to cash provided by operations, partially offset by acquisitions, the repayment of debt and purchases of property and equipment.
Debt, net of debt issuance costs, decreased $1,040 million primarily due to the repayment upon maturity of the $700 million aggregate principal amount of our 5.500% Senior Notes in February 2022, coupled with the remeasurement of our euro-denominated notes. The amount of principal and interest due in the next twelve months is $682 million. The amount of principal and interest due beyond the next twelve months is $17,529 million. As of December 31, 2022, no amounts had been borrowed under our $1 billion Revolving Credit Agreement. See Note 6 Debt in the accompanying notes to our consolidated financial statements.
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 to, or need to, obtain 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.
In March 2021, our Board of Directors authorized the repurchase of up to $5 billion of our common stock, with no expiration date. Stock repurchases may be effected through open market repurchases in compliance with Rule 10b-18 under the Exchange Act, including through the use of trading plans intended to qualify under Rule 10b5-1 under the Exchange Act, privately-negotiated transactions, accelerated stock repurchase plans, block purchases, or other similar purchase techniques and in such amounts as management deems appropriate. We are not obligated to repurchase any specific number of shares, and the timing and actual number of shares repurchased will depend on a variety of factors, including our stock price, general economic, business and market conditions, and alternative investment opportunities. We may discontinue any repurchases of our common stock at any time without prior notice. As of December 31, 2022, the Company has repurchased 1,182,410 shares of common stock for an aggregate amount of $600 million. As of December 31, 2022, $4.4 billion remains available for repurchases.
Our primary uses of cash include the acquisition, licensing and production of content, marketing programs, streaming delivery and personnel-related costs, as well as for 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, 2022, the expected timing of those payments are as follows:
Obligations (in thousands): Total Next 12 Months Beyond 12 Months
Content obligations (1) $ 21,831,947 $ 10,038,483 $ 11,793,464
Debt (2) 18,210,739 681,993 17,528,746
Operating lease obligations (3) 3,363,091 477,451 2,885,640
Total $ 43,405,777 $ 11,197,927 $ 32,207,850
(1)As of December 31, 2022, content obligations were comprised of $4.5 billion included in "Current content liabilities" and $3.1 billion of "Non-current content liabilities" on the Consolidated Balance Sheets and $14.2 billion of obligations that are not reflected on the Consolidated Balance Sheets as they did not then meet the criteria for recognition.
Content obligations include amounts related to the acquisition, licensing and production of content. An obligation for the production of content includes non-cancelable commitments under creative talent and employment agreements and other production related commitments. An obligation for the acquisition and licensing of content is incurred at the time we enter into an agreement to obtain future titles. Once a title becomes available, a content liability is recorded on the Consolidated Balance Sheets. Certain agreements include the obligation to license rights for unknown future titles, the ultimate quantity and/or fees for which are not yet determinable as of the reporting date. Traditional film output deals, or certain TV series license agreements where the number of seasons to be aired is unknown, are examples of these types of agreements. The contractual obligations table above does not include any estimated obligation for the unknown future titles, payment for which could range from less than one year to more than five years. However, these unknown obligations are expected to be significant and we believe could include approximately $1 billion to $4 billion over the next three years, with the payments for the vast majority of such amounts expected to occur after the next twelve months. The foregoing range is based on considerable management judgments and the actual amounts may differ. Once we know the title that we will receive and the license fees, we include the amount in the contractual obligations table above.
(2)Debt obligations include our Notes consisting of principal and interest payments. See Note 6 Debt in the accompanying notes to our consolidated financial statements for further details.
(3)See Note 5 Balance Sheet Components in the accompanying notes to our consolidated financial statements for further details regarding leases. As of December 31, 2022, the Company has additional operating leases for real estate that have not yet commenced of $419 million which has been included above. Total lease obligations as of December 31, 2022 decreased $153 million from $3,516 million as of December 31, 2021 to $3,363 million as of December 31, 2022 due to payments made on lease liabilities.
In addition, as of December 31, 2022, we had gross unrecognized tax benefits of $227 million, of which $155 million was classified in “Other non-current liabilities" in the Consolidated Balance Sheets. At this time, an estimate of the range of reasonably possible adjustments to the balance of unrecognized tax benefits cannot be made.
Free Cash Flow
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 excess content payments over amortization, non-cash stock-based compensation expense, non-cash remeasurement gain/loss on our euro-denominated debt, and other working capital differences. Working capital differences include deferred revenue, excess property and equipment purchases over depreciation, taxes and semi-annual interest payments on our outstanding debt. Our receivables from members generally settle quickly.
Year Ended December 31, Change
2022 2021 2020 2022 vs. 2021
(in thousands)
Net cash provided by operating activities
$ 2,026,257 $ 392,610 $ 2,427,077 $ 1,633,647 416 %
Net cash used in investing activities
(2,076,392) (1,339,853) (505,354) 736,539 55 %
Net cash provided by (used in) financing activities
(664,254) (1,149,776) 1,237,311 (485,522) (42) %
Non-GAAP reconciliation of free cash flow:
Net cash provided by operating activities
2,026,257 392,610 2,427,077 1,633,647 416 %
Purchases of property and equipment (407,729) (524,585) (497,923) (116,856) (22) %
Change in other assets
- (26,919) (7,431) 26,919 100 %
Free cash flow
$ 1,618,528 $ (158,894) $ 1,921,723 $ 1,777,422 1119 %
Net cash provided by operating activities increased $1,634 million from the year ended December 31, 2021 to $2,026 million for the year ended December 31, 2022 primarily driven by a $1,918 million or 6% increase in revenues, coupled with a decrease in cash payments for content assets. The payments for content assets decreased $810 million, from $17,469 million to $16,660 million, or 5%, as compared to the increase in the amortization of content assets of $1,796 million, from $12,230 million to $14,026 million, or 15%. In addition, we had increased payments associated with higher operating expenses, primarily related to increased personnel costs to support our continued improvements in our streaming service and our international expansion.
Net cash used in investing activities increased $737 million, primarily due to purchases of short-term investments.
Net cash used in financing activities decreased $486 million primarily due to there being no repurchases of common stock in the year ended December 31, 2022 as compared to repurchases of common stock for an aggregate amount of $600 million in the year ended December 31, 2021, partially offset by the repayment upon maturity of the $700 million aggregate principal amount of our 5.500% Senior Notes in February 2022 as compared to the repayment upon maturity of the $500 million aggregate principal amount of our 5.375% Senior Notes in February 2021.
Free cash flow was $2,873 million lower than net income for the year ended December 31, 2022 primarily due to $2,634 million of cash payments for content assets over amortization expense, $353 million of non-cash remeasurement gain on our euro-denominated debt, and $461 million other non-favorable working capital differences, partially offset by $575 million of non-cash stock-based compensation expenses.
Free cash flow was $5,275 million lower than net income for the year ended December 31, 2021 primarily due to $5,239 million of cash payments for content assets over amortization expense, $431 million of non-cash remeasurement gain on our euro-denominated debt and $8 million other non-favorable working capital differences, partially offset by $403 million of non-cash stock-based compensation expenses.
Indemnifications
The information set forth under Note 8 Guarantees - Indemnification Obligations 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 is incorporated herein by reference.
Critical Accounting Estimates
The preparation of consolidated financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, disclosures of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements, and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reported periods. The Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") has defined a company’s critical accounting policies as the ones that are most important to the portrayal of a company’s financial condition and results of operations, and which require a company to make its most difficult and subjective judgments. Based on this definition, we have identified the critical accounting policies and judgments addressed below. We base our estimates on historical experience and on various other assumptions that we believe to be reasonable under the circumstances. Actual results may differ from these estimates.
Content
We acquire, license and produce content, including original programming, in order to offer our members unlimited viewing of video entertainment. The content licenses are for a fixed fee and specific windows of availability. Payment terms for certain content licenses and the production of content require more upfront cash payments relative to the amortization expense. Payments for content, including additions to content assets and the changes in related liabilities, are classified within "Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities" on the Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows.
We recognize content assets (licensed and produced) as "Content assets, net" on the Consolidated Balance Sheets. For licensed content, we capitalize the fee per title and record a corresponding liability at the gross amount of the liability when the license period begins, the cost of the title is known and the title is accepted and available for streaming. For produced content, we capitalize costs associated with the production, including development cost, direct costs and production overhead. Participations and residuals are expensed in line with the amortization of production costs.
Based on factors including historical and estimated viewing patterns, we amortize the content assets (licensed and produced) in “Cost of revenues” on the Consolidated Statements of Operations over the shorter of each title's contractual window of availability or estimated period of use or ten years, beginning with the month of first availability. The amortization is on an accelerated basis, as we typically expect more upfront viewing, and film amortization is more accelerated than TV series amortization. On average, over 90% of a licensed or produced content asset is expected to be amortized within four years after its month of first availability. We review factors that impact the amortization of the content assets on a regular basis. Our estimates related to these factors require considerable management judgment.
In the normal course of business, we, or a third-party producing content on our behalf, may qualify for tax incentives through eligible spend on productions. The accounting for tax incentives is dependent on the particular type of incentive, including the nature of the benefit and the location the incentive is earned. In general, tax incentives are realized as cash receipts and may be received prior to or after a title launches on our service. Upon a title’s launch, any amounts we are eligible for through qualified production spend but have not received, are recognized in “Other current assets” or “Other non-current assets” on the Consolidated Balance Sheets as receivables. Tax incentives are generally accounted for as a reduction to the cost basis of content assets (presented in “Content assets, net”) and reduces content amortization over the life of the title (as presented in “Cost of revenues”) on the Consolidated Statement of Operations.
Our business model is subscription based as opposed to a model generating revenues at a specific title level. Content assets (licensed and produced) are predominantly monetized as a group and therefore are reviewed at a group level when an event or change in circumstances indicates a change in the expected usefulness of the content or that the fair value may be less than unamortized cost. To date, we have not identified any such event or changes in circumstances. If such changes are identified in the future, these aggregated content assets will be stated at the lower of unamortized cost or fair value. In addition, unamortized costs for assets that have been, or are expected to be, abandoned are written off.
Income Taxes
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 for any tax benefits for which future realization is uncertain.
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. However, we believe that it is more likely than not that most of the deferred tax assets recorded on our Consolidated Balance Sheets will ultimately be realized. We record a valuation allowance to reduce our deferred tax assets to the net amount that we believe is more likely than not to be realized. As of December 31, 2022 the valuation allowance of $343 million was related to the California research and development credits and certain foreign tax attributes that we do not expect to realize.
We did 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. At December 31, 2022, our estimated gross unrecognized tax benefits were $227 million of which $155 million, if recognized, would favorably impact our future earnings. 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.
See Note 10 Income Taxes to the consolidated financial statements for further information regarding income taxes.
Recent Accounting Pronouncements
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.

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ITEM 7A. QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK
Item 7A.Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk
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.
Interest Rate Risk
At December 31, 2022, 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.
As of December 31, 2022, we had $14.4 billion of debt, consisting of fixed rate unsecured debt in fourteen tranches due between 2024 and 2030. Refer to Note 6 to the consolidated financial statements for details about all issuances. The fair value of our debt will fluctuate with movements of interest rates, increasing in periods of declining rates of interest and declining in periods of increasing rates of interest. The fair value of our debt will also fluctuate based on changes in foreign currency rates, as discussed below.
Foreign Currency Risk
Currencies denominated in other than the U.S. dollar account for 56% of revenue for the year ended December 31, 2022. We therefore have foreign currency risk related to these currencies, which are primarily the euro, the British pound, the Brazilian real, the Canadian dollar, the Mexican peso, the Australian dollar, and the Japanese yen.
Accordingly, changes in exchange rates, and in particular a weakening of foreign currencies relative to the U.S. dollar may negatively affect our revenue and operating income as expressed in U.S. dollars. For the year ended December 31, 2022, our revenues would have been approximately $1,773 million higher had foreign currency exchange rates remained constant with those for the year ended December 31, 2021.
We have also experienced and will continue to experience fluctuations in our net income as a result of gains (losses) on the settlement and the remeasurement of monetary assets and liabilities denominated in currencies that are not the functional currency. In the year ended December 31, 2022, we recognized a $282 million foreign exchange gain primarily due to the non-cash remeasurement of our Senior Notes denominated in euros, partially offset by the remeasurement of cash and content liability positions denominated in currencies other than functional currencies.
In addition, the effect of exchange rate changes on cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash in the year ended December 31, 2022 was a decrease of $170 million.
We do not use foreign exchange contracts or derivatives to hedge any foreign currency exposures. The volatility of exchange rates depends on many factors that we cannot forecast with reliable accuracy. Our continued international expansion increases our exposure to exchange rate fluctuations and as a result, such fluctuations could have a significant impact on our future results of operations.

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ITEM 8. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTARY DATA
Item 8.Financial Statements and Supplementary Data
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.

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ITEM 9. CHANGES IN AND DISAGREEMENTS WITH ACCOUNTANTS
Item 9.Changes in and Disagreements with Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure
None.

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ITEM 9A. CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES
Item 9A.Controls and Procedures
(a)Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures
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.
Our management, including our co-Chief Executive Officers and Chief Financial Officer, does not expect that our disclosure controls and procedures or our internal controls will prevent all error and all fraud. A control system, no matter how well conceived and operated, can provide only reasonable, not absolute, assurance that the objectives of the control system are met. Further, the design of a control system must reflect the fact that there are resource constraints, and the benefits of controls must be considered relative to their costs. Because of the inherent limitations in all control systems, no evaluation of controls can provide absolute assurance that all control issues and instances of fraud, if any, within Netflix have been detected.
(b)Management’s Annual Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting
Our management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Rule 13a-15(f) of the Exchange Act.) Our management assessed the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2022. In making this assessment, our management used the criteria set forth by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (“COSO”) in Internal Control-Integrated Framework (2013 framework). Based on our assessment under the framework in Internal Control-Integrated Framework (2013 framework), our management concluded that our internal control over financial reporting was effective as of December 31, 2022. The effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2022 has been audited by Ernst & Young LLP, an independent registered public accounting firm, as stated in their report that is included herein.
(c)Changes in Internal Control Over Financial Reporting
There was no change in our internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the quarter ended December 31, 2022 that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.
Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
To the Stockholders and the Board of Directors of Netflix, Inc.
Opinion on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting
We have audited Netflix, Inc.’s internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2022, based on criteria established in Internal Control - Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (2013 framework) (the COSO criteria). In our opinion, Netflix, Inc. (the Company) maintained, in all material respects, effective internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2022, based on the COSO criteria.
We also have audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (PCAOB), the consolidated balance sheets of the Company as of December 31, 2022 and 2021, the related consolidated statements of operations, comprehensive income, stockholders’ equity and cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2022, and the related notes and our report dated January 26, 2023 expressed an unqualified opinion thereon.
Basis for Opinion
The Company’s management is responsible for maintaining effective internal control over financial reporting and for its assessment of the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting included in the accompanying Management’s Annual Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company’s internal control over financial reporting based on our audit. We are a public accounting firm registered with the PCAOB and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.
We conducted our audit in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether effective internal control over financial reporting was maintained in all material respects.
Our audit included obtaining an understanding of internal control over financial reporting, assessing the risk that a material weakness exists, testing and evaluating the design and operating effectiveness of internal control based on the assessed risk, and performing such other procedures as we considered necessary in the circumstances. We believe that our audit provides a reasonable basis for our opinion.
Definition and Limitations of Internal Control Over Financial Reporting
A company’s internal control over financial reporting is a process designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. A company’s internal control over financial reporting includes those policies and procedures that (1) pertain to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of the assets of the company; (2) provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, and that receipts and expenditures of the company are being made only in accordance with authorizations of management and directors of the company; and (3) provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use, or disposition of the company’s assets that could have a material effect on the financial statements.
Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. Also, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate.
/s/ Ernst & Young LLP
San Jose, California
January 26, 2023

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ITEM 9B. OTHER INFORMATION
Item 9B.Other Information
None.

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ITEM 10. DIRECTORS, EXECUTIVE OFFICERS AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE
Item 10.Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance
Information regarding our directors and executive officers is incorporated by reference from the information contained under the sections “Proposal One: Election of Directors,” and “Code of Ethics” in our Proxy Statement for the Annual Meeting of Stockholders.

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ITEM 11. EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION
Item 11.Executive Compensation
Information required by this item is incorporated by reference from information contained under the sections “Compensation Discussion and Analysis” and “Compensation of Named Executive Officers and Other Matters” in our Proxy Statement for the Annual Meeting of Stockholders.

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ITEM 12. SECURITY OWNERSHIP OF CERTAIN BENEFICIAL OWNERS
Item 12.Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters
Information required by this item is incorporated by reference from information contained under the sections “Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management” and “Equity Compensation Plan Information” in our Proxy Statement for the Annual Meeting of Stockholders.

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ITEM 13. CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED TRANSACTIONS
Item 13.Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence
Information required by this item is incorporated by reference from information contained under the section “Certain Relationships and Related Transactions” and “Director Independence” in our Proxy Statement for the Annual Meeting of Stockholders.

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ITEM 14. PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTING FEES AND SERVICES
Item 14.Principal Accountant Fees and Services
Information with respect to principal independent registered public accounting firm fees and services is incorporated by reference from the information under the caption “Proposal Two: Ratification of Appointment of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm” in our Proxy Statement for the Annual Meeting of Stockholders.
PART IV

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ITEM 15. EXHIBITS, FINANCIAL STATEMENT SCHEDULES
Item 15.Exhibits, Financial Statement Schedules
(a)The following documents are filed as part of this Annual Report on Form 10-K:
(1)Financial Statements:
The financial statements are filed as part of this Annual Report on Form 10-K under “Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.”
(2)Financial Statement Schedules:
The financial statement schedules are omitted as they are either not applicable or the information required is presented in the financial statements and notes thereto under “Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.”
(3)Exhibits:
See Exhibit Index immediately following the signature page of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.