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NETFLIX Free Resources
Netflix says ...
Netflix says it has more than 500,000 customers, according to documents filed with the SEC. The company lost $38 million in 2001, on sales of $75.9 million. That was an improvement over the prior year, when it lost $57.3 million on sales of $35.9 million. Netflix had around $16 million in cash on hand as of the end of 2001.
In the aftermath of the dot-com demise, a few Internet companies are slowly testing the public offering waters. PayPal, an Internet-based payment service, had a splashy opening last month, but its stock has since settled down, and closed yesterday at $17.45, only slightly higher than its opening price of $15.41.
Online retailer Overstock.com registered for a $37 million offering earlier this month
them up on their offer for a free trial," he tells his staff with a smile, "and if you forget to return the discs, I understand."
Wall Street thinks it knows how this story ends badly. Investors still remember Kozmo, Webvan, and a few pet store fiascos. Indeed, as Hastings speaks, 40 percent of all NFLX shares are being sold short. In the month that follows his presentation, Netflix stock drops from $14 to below $6. Still, Hastings is sure he's onto something. While other video-on-demand companies build businesses around broadband, Netflix is taking a half-step toward the digital future with mass-produced DVDs ($1 each) and an old-fashioned delivery mechanism: the US mail. The company has less than 2 percent of the $8 billion video rental market, but it doubled its customer base to 750,000 this year, and Hastings projects a million customers, and profitability, in 2003. Since subscribers pay up front, Netflix also has the steadiest revenue stream the industry has ever seen. "We're public now," Hastings reminds his troops, "with $90 million in the bank. For them to pull ahead will be almost unimaginable." He brings up the final PowerPoint slide: let the battle begin.
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