• Netflix's co-CEO said its US movies and shows need to improve.
• "We do need better execution in the US," Ted Sarandos told investors.
• The streaming leader replaced its content chief and film head before its Q3 earnings report.

Netflix needs to make better shows and movies in the US, its co-CEO said after its third-quarter earnings report.

"We do need better execution in the US," co-CEO Ted Sarandos said on the company's Q3 earnings call on Tuesday.

Netflix's global content — including Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia — "is largely working," Sarandos told investors.

"The US is also working. It's just not growing as fast as it could, or as fast as we'd like," Sarandos said.

Netflix's biggest market is the US and Canada, which made up about 44% of its revenue this quarter at $5.6 billion. Next are Europe and the Middle East, followed by Latin America and the Asia-Pacific region.

Sarandos said the US "had some really solid doubles and triples this year" but added that "the other territories count on some of those titles being home runs, so that they'll travel around the world."

Netflix announced last week that it will be replacing content chief Bela Bajaria, who had overseen the streamer's movies and shows since 2023, with former Disney and Fox executive Peter Rice.

The streaming giant is also moving on from film chief Dan Lin. Rice will oversee Netflix's movies until the company fills his role.

Co-CEO Greg Peters said on the earnings call that Netflix's goal is to take its content slate "from very good to great."

Besides subbing out content execs, Netflix also cut roughly 1,000 workers in what was its biggest round of staff reductions since 2022.

Netflix shares entered Tuesday's earnings report down about 44% in the last 12 months. The stock fell 6% in after-hours trading following the company's report, which showed a third consecutive quarter of slowing revenue growth.

Wall Street has grown concerned about Netflix's engagement growth, especially as the paid streaming leader competes with free streamers like YouTube.

"There is a lot to be excited about, but I know that we could do better," Sarandos said.

• Netflix shares sank up to 6% after a Q3 earnings beat and weak guidance for the rest of the year.
• Shares had fallen about 44% in the last year as investors worry about slowing growth.
• The streaming leader laid off about 1,000 employees last week and changed its content leadership.

Netflix's third-quarter earnings failed to excite investors, a week after a major content executive shuffle and its biggest round of layoffs since 2022.

The streamer turned in results above expectations for the third quarter, but provided weak guidance for the rest of the year. Netflix said its earnings beat was primarily due to the timing of expenses.

Netflix's revenue growth slowed for a third straight quarter, and the company projected it would continue to decelerate in the fourth quarter.

Shares fell up to 6% in after-hours trading on Tuesday.

"While Netflix is growing, the pace of that growth is slowing," Forrester's Mike Proulx said. "That's a wake-up call for the company that once defined the streaming market and is now in need of growth reacceleration."

Here's how the streaming giant's Q3 financial results compared to the company's forecast:

• Revenue: $12.87 billion vs $12.86 billion estimated ($11.5 billion in Q3 2025)
• Earnings: $0.87 per share vs $0.82 per share estimated ($0.59 per share in Q3 2025)

Netflix told investors to expect earnings of $0.67 per share in the fourth quarter, below Wall Street's $0.73 per share estimate. The company's $13.44 billion revenue projection for Q4 was also lower than analysts' estimate of $13.51 billion.

The streaming leader cut its annual advertising forecast from $3 billion to $2.7 billion, citing a slower-than-expected rollout of its ad products.

"With Netflix under pressure to find alternative lines of revenue beyond subscriptions, it's concerning that the company lowered its estimate for its ad business," said analyst Ross Benes of Emarketer, Business Insider's sister company.

Heading into Q3 earnings, Netflix's stock was down over 44% in the last year as investors worried about engagement growth and stiff competition from YouTube and other free streamers.

Netflix said in its third-quarter shareholder letter that it knows "there's some investor concern about our view hours growth" but added that engagement "remains healthy."

"We do seek to accelerate growth in view hours as well, and we're confident we'll do that by relentlessly focusing and executing" its strategy, the shareholder letter said.

The company has invested in video games and podcasts but didn't mention either in its letter, outside a disclosure section on "forward-looking statements."

Netflix's results came less than a week after it shook up its content leadership team and cut about 1,000 workers.

Content chief Bela Bajaria is leaving her role after more than three years, Netflix announced last week. The company said Monday that film chief Dan Lin is also out.

Bajaria will be replaced by Peter Rice, a former Fox and Disney exec who ran Disney's TV division, including ABC and FX. Netflix hasn't yet said who will replace Lin; Rice will oversee film in the meantime.

"It's our goal to go from very good to great," co-CEO Greg Peters said of Netflix's content slate on the company's earnings call.

The leadership changes come as Netflix battles slowing viewership growth. The streaming powerhouse generated 97 billion viewing hours in the first half of the year, which was up 2% year-over-year.

Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos said at an industry event hosted by Bloomberg last month that Netflix was "not growing as fast as I want us to, and we're working on making that move faster."

"Revamping content strategy is not enough to fix this challenge, but it is a worthwhile start," Benes said.

Netflix layoffs were across its product, tech, HR, and legal teams. Co-CEOs Sarandos and Peters said in a memo to staffers that the company was downsizing so it can be "disciplined about where we prioritize our people and resources."

Other media companies have laid off employees in the last month. NBCUniversal cut a few hundred global streaming tech employees in early October, and Disney trimmed its tech and HR teams in late September.

In the second quarter, Netflix's results were roughly in line with analysts' expectations. The stock sank 8% after the report as Netflix said it would cut back on how frequently it shared viewership data.

• Disney plans to pay $60 million to hire 66 employees from Character.AI, which filed for bankruptcy.
• Former Character.AI Karandeep Anand is Disney's new chief technology officer.
• CEO Josh D'Amaro's company laid off tech staffers in September in its third round of cuts this year.

Disney is paying up for employees from an AI chatbot startup that filed for bankruptcy, shortly after trimming its own tech workforce.

The Mouse House plans to pay $60 million per year to 66 workers from Character.AI, according to a Chapter 11 filing on Tuesday from its parent company. In mid-September, Disney hired Character.AI CEO Karandeep Anand to be its first-ever company-wide tech chief. (The company hasn't yet disclosed how much it's paying Anand.)

These additions are part of Disney's AI strategy under CEO Josh D'Amaro, who's been investing in the media giant's tech platforms to help jumpstart a stagnant stock that's up less than 2% in the last 12 months and is down over 36% in the last five years.

Disney's decision to bring in these Character.AI staffers came two weeks after it laid off several hundred workers — including some tech employees. The late-September cuts were Disney's third major round of layoffs since D'Amaro took over in mid-March.

In addition to the $60 million in compensation, Disney is setting aside an additional $30 million for an "aggregate retention pool" to incentivize Character.AI employees to stay. The company expects to spend $180 million on "total compensation and retention" for these staffers in the next three years, the filing said.

Of the 66 Character.AI staffers who were offered jobs by Disney, 56 have already resigned from the AI startup, while the other 10 are waiting for the US government to update their work visas.

Entertainment lawyer Corey Martin of Granderson Des Rochers, who advises companies on media transactions, said he's not surprised by those pay figures since Character.AI's employees are its biggest asset.

"They're highly compensated employees. The numbers can be eye-popping, but it's not that unusual in this space," said Martin, who didn't work on the deal or with Disney.

Disney also agreed to pay $20 million for Character.AI's key assets, including some of its IP and tech. Other companies can submit competing bids for the assets by November 20. The entire process will be overseen by a bankruptcy court judge. Disney didn't respond to requests for comment for this story.

Character.AI filed for bankruptcy after facing lawsuits from families who alleged that their teenagers harmed themselves or committed suicide after using the company's custom AI chatbots. The AI startup and Google, one of its backers, settled several child safety lawsuits earlier this year.

Disney sent a cease-and-desist letter to Character.AI last fall, telling it not to create AI chatbots featuring its copyrighted characters without permission. Character.AI complied, removing chatbots with characters from Disney franchises like Star Wars and Marvel.

In its bankruptcy announcement, Character.AI said that it had been facing "significant legal, regulatory, and operational headwinds."

Anand told Disney employees in a memo last Friday that the Mouse House was "uniquely positioned to win" in a competitive media business that he said was "at an inflection point." The tech chief also said he enjoyed meeting his new colleagues and looked forward to working with them.

"What stands out most is the talent and care this team puts into its work, the craft Disney has perfected, and the strong foundation you've built," Anand said.

• Netflix is replacing its content chief after laying off about 1,000 employees.
• Former Disney and Fox executive Peter Rice will take the role from departing Bela Bajaria.
• Netflix has gone through a bruising period as Wall Street questions its long-term direction.

Netflix has hired a new content chief after a stock slump and struggles to grow its viewership.

Peter Rice, a former Fox and Disney executive, will oversee Netflix's $20 billion budget for movies and shows starting on October 26, the company announced on Thursday.

Rice will replace Bela Bajaria, who's leaving the company after almost a decade. Bajaria took the top content job in 2023 and memorably described the ideal Netflix show as a "gourmet cheeseburger."

The exec shake-up came a day after the streaming giant laid off about 1,000 employees, its biggest round of layoffs in four years.

Netflix has had a tough year.

Co-CEO Ted Sarandos said at a Bloomberg media event last month that Netflix is "not growing as fast as I want us to, and we're working on making that move faster."

Shares are down nearly 40% in the past 12 months as investors increasingly worry about slower viewership growth and the company's long-term direction. Netflix's attempt to buy Warner Bros. — which was ultimately stymied by David Ellison's Paramount — soured the Wall Street narrative about the company's future.

Rice was previously the head of Disney's TV arm, where he ran Hulu and networks like ABC, Disney Channel, and FX. He was fired from the Mouse House in 2022 by former Disney CEO Bob Chapek and replaced by Dana Walden, who's now Disney's creative chief.

"Peter is one of the most effective at-scale operators in the entertainment industry," Sarandos said in a statement. The co-CEO added that Rice's "business acumen is sharp, his talent relationships are exceptionally strong, and his experience across TV and film is deep and broad."

Bajaria "led enormous changes at Netflix," Sarandos said, crediting her for helping the streamer broaden its content mix to live events and sports.

Under Bajaria, Netflix had hits like "KPop Demon Hunters" — its biggest movie ever — as well as breakout shows like "Wednesday" and Emmy Award winner "Adolescence."

However, Netflix's engagement growth was only 2% in the first half of 2026, and the company has faced increased competition from free streamers like YouTube and Tubi. YouTube is now well ahead of Netflix as the most-watched service on US TV screens.

Netflix, which had more than 325 million subscribers as of its last disclosure in January, remains the clear leader among paid streaming services. That said, Rice will have to figure out the right content mix to fend off both its Hollywood rivals and social-media competitors like Instagram and TikTok.