Netflix nonetheless guidelines the streaming universe. As of the tip of March, it had 207.6 million complete paying subscribers, with about 67 million in the United States, the corporate famous in an earnings report on Tuesday.

But its fundamental opponents — Disney+, HBO Max, Paramount+ and AppleTV+, as nicely as the old-guard streamers Amazon Prime Video and Hulu — have lower into Netflix’s share of viewers’ consideration.

The world demand for authentic Netflix packages, like “Bridgerton,” the a lot buzzed-about romance collection from the super-producer Shonda Rhimes, has began to drop relative to related choices from newcomers, in accordance to the info agency Parrot Analytics, which has developed a metric to price not solely the variety of viewers for given exhibits, however their probability of attracting subscribers to a streaming service.

In its newest rankings, Parrot reported that Netflix’s share of complete demand — a measure of the recognition of its exhibits — was barely above 50 % for the primary three months of the 12 months, in contrast with 54 % a 12 months in the past and 65 % in the primary quarter of 2019.

In different phrases, opponents have began consuming into Netflix’s dominance.

That confirmed up in the numbers. For the primary quarter of 2021, Netflix reported the addition of 4 million new prospects, under the six million it had forecast. The firm expects to add just one million new prospects for this present quarter ending in June.

Netflix shares plummeted greater than 9 % in after-hours buying and selling after the earnings announcement.

The firm doesn’t assume opponents created an issue. “We don’t believe competitive intensity materially changed in the quarter,” Netflix stated in its letter to shareholders.

Led by the co-chief executives Reed Hastings and Ted Sarandos, Netflix pulled again on productions through the pandemic, which has now rippled into its launch schedule. The firm didn’t have any large returning collection in the interval.

Netflix additionally raised costs in October, rising its commonplace plan by a greenback to $14 a month. It added an additional $2 to its premium tier, which now prices $18. The firm usually will increase its charges about each 18 months. It can be making an attempt to clamp down on password sharing, lengthy a typical follow.

Last 12 months, in the identical interval, simply as the pandemic was underway, the corporate added a record 15.7 million subscribers.

As a lot of the world went into lockdown, individuals turned to screens to whereas away the hours. Netflix recorded a bounce in new sign-ups, main to a document 12 months of practically 37 million extra prospects. The firm is unlikely to repeat that efficiency for 2021 as eating places, shops, theaters and sports activities stadiums begin opening up to full capability throughout the nation.

But Netflix is a global enterprise. The majority of its revenues now come from abroad, and it has banked its future development on rising markets such as India and Latin America. Those areas have had latest surges in coronavirus circumstances, prompting new lockdowns. Most of the world, together with Europe, has not vaccinated its residents as shortly as the United States.

Netflix remains to be spending large. It spent $465 million to buy two sequels to the hit whodunit “Knives Out,” a price ticket 50 % increased than the primary movie’s gross receipts. It’s additionally 10 instances what the movie value to produce. Hollywood lit up with chatter. Did Netflix overpay?

The movie’s director, Rian Johnson, got here up with the thought for the movie, and he and his producing accomplice management the rights. The profitable deal is in preserving with Netflix’s costly courtship of Hollywood creators. It has nine-figure agreements with prolific tv producers together with Ms. Rhimes and Ryan Murphy, as nicely as the actor-producer Adam Sandler. Mr. Johnson might be a part of their ranks by creating extra collection and movies for the corporate.

Despite Netflix’s push into proudly owning its personal content material, it not too long ago entered right into a distribution agreement with Sony Pictures Entertainment, the final main Hollywood studio not tied to any streaming enterprise. Netflix may have rights to some Marvel franchises, together with the Sony-controlled “Spider-Man,” and a number of other offshoots primarily based on the character.

The firm reported revenue of $1.7 billion on income of $7.16 billion for the primary quarter. Investors have been trying to $1.three billion in revenue on $7.1 billion in gross sales.

In addition, the board of administrators permitted a $5 billion inventory buyback plan, which ought to decrease the variety of out there shares in circulation, probably making them extra priceless.

Although opponents are gaining floor, Netflix is in its finest monetary form of its historical past. It hit a milestone on the finish of final 12 months, when it stated it will now not look to borrow cash to fund its content material slate. Another method to take a look at it: Netflix lastly turned a truly profitable enterprise after topping 200 million subscribers, every paying a mean of $11 a month.

In different phrases: Its opponents are nonetheless shedding a number of cash on streaming.