Netflix second quarter revenue jumps to $11bn, execs play down YouTube rivalry

Season three of Ginny & Georgia launched in Q2

Netflix posted revenue of US$11.1bn in the second quarter of 2025, up 16% from a year ago, as the streaming giant continued to achieve robust growth in all four of its main territories.

In the US and Canada, its biggest market, revenue was up 15% to US$4.93bn, while revenue grew 18% in Europe, the Middle East and Africa to US$3.54bn, 9% in Latin America to US$1.31bn and 24% in Asia Pacific to US$1.31bn.

The results were ahead of Wall Street’s expectations and Netflix has now increased its revenue forecast for the year to between US$44.8bn and US$45.2bn, compared with its previous forecast of between US$43.5bn and US$44.5bn. The company also saw its operating income jump 45% year-over-year to US$3.8bn in the second quarter.

Titles released in the quarter included third seasons of Squid Game and Ginny & Georgia, Argentinian series The Eternaut, British crime drama Dept Q and Danish miniseries Secrets We Keep.

Netflix also released its latest What We Watched report, detailing total viewership on the service for the first half of 2025. In total, Netflix users consumed 95 billion hours of content, up 1% from the prior six-month period, with four-part UK drama Adolescence claiming the top spot with 145 million views, followed by Squid Game season two (117 million views) and three (71 million), Zero Day (61 million) and Missing You (58 million).

The streamer highlighted that its older originals generate a healthy amount of watch time, with half of the viewership coming from Netflix originals that debuted during or before 2023.

While Netflix no longer discloses its subscriber numbers, it teased that “member growth was ahead of our forecast” in the quarter in its letter to shareholders. At the end of Q4 2024, it had 301.6 million subscribers globally.

As Netflix has pulled away from studio and streamer rivals, YouTube has emerged as its biggest rival, with the Google-owned platform enjoying a 12.8% share of all streaming viewership in the US in June compared with Netflix’s 8.3%, according to Nielsen.

Netflix has responded by expanding ties with YouTube creators, including a deal with preschool video maker Ms Rachel, whose videos have racked up 53 million views so far this year on Netflix.

Analysts asked whether it would consider bringing YouTube creators (and their content) on to Netflix under exclusive deals. While he did not directly answer the question, co-CEO Ted Sarandos said the streamer continues to be interested in influencers that are a “good fit” for Netflix and “are looking for different ways to connect with audiences.”

Fellow co-CEO Greg Peters said he sees “free services as a form of strong competition” but that Netflix is operating in a slightly different space.

“Not all [content] hours are created equal, and we have a different profit model from other services – a strong profit model. So we’re going to compete to win more moments of truth, for sure, but especially compete to win those most profitable moments,” he said.

He added that rather than getting immersed in a battle over which company has a larger share of streaming viewership, Netflix is going after the “80% of total TV view share that neither Netflix or YouTube are winning right now. We think that represents a huge opportunity for which we are competing aggressively, and we aim to grow our share.”

Execs also dismissed the suggestion that Netflix will participate in the wave of M&A activity that appears poised to take place as multiple studio, network and IP assets come up for sale.

“We’ve historically been more builders than buyers, and we continue to see big runway for growth without fundamentally changing that playbook,” said chief financial officer Spencer Neumann, who said Netflix has “no interest in owning legacy assets.” He also said the potential of upcoming consolidation in the legacy media space will not “materially change the competitive landscape.”

On the recently agreed carriage deal with France’s TF1, set to begin in summer 2026, Peters said both companies see the partnership as an “opportunity to learn.”

Asked whether Netflix will pursue other similar deals, Peters said it will be a case of gauging the response before deciding how to proceed. “We’re looking forward to seeing what consumers think. You never really know until you get out there and get the real reactions, and then, obviously, we’ll factor that into our plans.”

Elsewhere, Netflix announced a slate of new unscripted originals, including a Simon Cowell-led docuseries where the music mogul hunts for the next boy band sensation, and dating series Let’s Marry Harry, starring YouTuber Harry Jowsey and podcaster Alex Cooper. It also renewed The Ultimatum: Marry or Move On (S4) and King of Collectibles: The Goldin Touch (S3).