From October 20-22 along the banks of Shanghai's Huangpu River, the 2026 Sustainable Global Leaders Conference returns once again. Nobel and Turing Award winners will take the stage to discuss the future and trends of technology, and the internet-famous professor who "rescues" people from anxiety and the era of involution — Macfarlane — will hold a live dialogue with Xiang Biao!

Limited seats available, first come first served. Let us embark together on the journey of sustainability! [Click to register] Netflix (NFLX) will not move to integrate the once-coveted Warner Bros. Discovery assets during the remainder of 2026. That plum assignment has fallen to the highly paid executive team assembled by Skydance media mogul David Ellison.

But Wall Street believes the streaming pioneer should present a clear plan at its October 20 earnings call to curb the stock's sustained decline. Netflix shares have fallen 25% year to date and have been sliding since mid-April. The sharp drop stems mainly from market concerns over weakening viewer engagement on the platform.

Google's YouTube and Amazon Prime keep introducing sports content, maintaining competitive pressure on Netflix, while Netflix's recently launched original content has performed only passably. KeyBanc analyst Justin Patterson said in a research note published Tuesday that he hopes Netflix management will announce four response measures at next week's earnings call. Patterson is not alone in expecting the company to send clear signals on these fronts:

"First, optimize content spending. We have already seen the company make adjustments in live events and content licensing: live content now accounts for about 5% of content spending and will continue to be evaluated; licensed content performed weakly in the second half of 2025, but higher-quality acquired content will roll out gradually in 2026. As content quality improves, it should strengthen both the company's pricing power and its advertising monetization."

"Second, refine the product experience. The company has already been advancing related work over the past year, such as a new homepage interface and AI recommendation algorithms. The new homepage initially focused on pushing live content and the gaming section, but we believe this has had a somewhat negative impact on user engagement — that section's recommendation algorithm is less optimized than those for series and films. As Netflix gradually figures out how to operate this kind of content, that negative factor is fading. In addition, there is room to expand by replicating the partnership model with France's TF1 television network. Over the long term, the gaming business and the launch of another ad-supported subscription tier could both grow into important growth drivers."

"Third, cut operating expenses. Industry outlet Puck recently reported that Netflix plans to lay off about 5% of staff, corresponding to 800-850 employees. Between 2019 and 2025, Netflix's headcount expanded from about 8,600 to 16,000. Given the company's current scale, combined with the cost savings AI technology can bring, we judge that the company has some room for expense adjustments."

"Finally, we believe the company could explore paying a dividend. The vast majority of media and entertainment companies pay dividends, and more and more large internet companies are beginning to do so as well in order to broaden their shareholder base, such as Alphabet and Meta. A dividend would not change the company's growth logic, but it could improve investor sentiment, support the price-to-earnings multiple, and potentially reduce market attention on large-scale M&A."