Streaming TV platform Netflix loses subscribers for first time in decade

Netflix Inc. NFLX 3.18% shares were on course for their worst day in nearly a decade after the streaming giant reported that it lost subscribers in the first quarter.  

Shares shed a quarter of their value in premarket trading Wednesday. Investors had expected that the company would add new users in the first quarter. Instead, Netflix said it ended the first three months of the year with 200,000 fewer subscribers than it had in the fourth quarter and said it expected to lose two million global subscribers in the current quarter.

If the 26% fall in premarket trading holds later in the day, it would set Netflix on course for its biggest daily share price fall in nearly a decade. The drop would slash around $40 billion of its market capitalization, which stood at $157 billion on Tuesday, according toFactSet.

It is the second time the shares have tumbled this year. In January, Netflix shares slid more than 20% when the streaming company said it expected to add a much smaller number of subscribers than it did one year prior. The last time Netflix shares fell 25% on a single day was July 25, 2012, according to FactSet, a day after the company warned of slowing growth for its subscription service.

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