Excerpt
Netflix CEO Raises Hackles With Earnings Videocast Plans
By Cliff Edwards - Jul 9, 2013 2:04 PM ET
Netflix Inc. (NFLX) Chief Executive Officer Reed Hastings, who drew regulatory scrutiny with Facebook posts on subscriber gains, is raising hackles again with plans for a moderated videocast instead of a quarterly earnings call.
Hastings and Chief Financial Officer David Wells will discuss second-quarter results from the company’s website after markets close on July 22 with Richard Greenfield, an analyst at BTIG LLC, and Julia Boorstin, a reporter for CNBC, Los Gatos, California-based Netflix said yesterday in a statement. They’ll choose from questions submitted in advance.
“What we’re doing is taking advantage of technology and putting it together with moderators we think will lead a lively Q&A,” Jonathan Friedland, a Netflix spokesman, said in an interview. “Our desire is to make this more informative, more interesting and more valuable.”
The change may invite scrutiny because it “raises the appearance that a sell-side analyst and a reporter will gain access to financial information ahead of others,” said Michael Pachter, an analyst with Wedbush Securities in Los Angeles who has a sell rating on Netflix shares.
“I’m not going to submit my questions in advance to a competitor or member of the press and let them screen them to determine whether they should be aired,” Pachter said in an interview. “I know this is Reed being progressive and trying to trail-blaze, but I think this is going to stifle the conversation instead of making it more dynamic.”
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