Someone splashed $1.1 billion on Netflix shares — almost as much as a monthly Premium plan

Netflix on TV
Netflix on TV (Image credit: iMore)

What you need to know

  • Bill Ackman says his firm bought 3.1 million Netflix shares.
  • It's thought the deal was worth around $1.1 billion.

Pershing Square Capital Management founder Bill Ackman says his firm bought 3.1 million Netflix shares which equated to around $1.1 billion at the time.

The move came as Netflix shares were reeling following poor market reaction to the company's recent quarterly subscriber growth numbers, making it the perfect time to buy. While shares were previously down, the buy saw them rebound during after-hours trading before settling 5% up.

Ackman told investors that the opportunity to buy Netflix shares at their reduced price was too good a chance to miss, according to a report by The Hollywood Reporter.

"The opportunity to acquire Netflix at an attractive valuation emerged when investors reacted negatively to the recent quarter's subscriber growth and management's short-term guidance. Netflix's substantial stock price decline was further exacerbated by recent market volatility," Ackman wrote in his letter. "We are pleased to add Netflix to our portfolio. Many of our best investments have emerged when other investors whose time horizons are short term, discard great companies at prices that look extraordinarily attractive when one has a long-term horizon."

Netflix on iPhone X

Netflix on iPhone X (Image credit: iMore)

Netflix recently announced price increases which mean that a 4K Premium plan now costs $19.99 per month. Amazingly, Netflix still offers a plan that will get you DVDs sent in the mail according to its support pages.

Priced at $19.99 per month, Netflix now costs four times as much as Apple TV+ and while the libraries can't really be compared at this point, there is no denying Apple's streaming service is exceptional value. The same can surely be said for Disney + as well.

Oliver Haslam
Contributor

Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to 'explain' those thoughts in more detail, too. Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn't looked back. Since then he's seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He's been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.