Though the company now has that safeguard, a strong 2025 slate could also “help balance out potential flattening,” according to Katz.

This year, Netflix is releasing the final seasons of You, Cobra Kai, Stranger Things, The Witcher, and Squid Game, as well as new seasons of Wednesday and Ginny & Georgia. Original films also include Knives Out 3 and Happy Gilmore 2.

He added that the continued emphasis on licensed and original local language programming has helped Netflix to maintain its advantage in international resonance and penetration.

“One big question facing the streamer is if the second and third seasons of Squid Game can serve as an effective launching pad for greater non-English sampling from high-yield UCAN subscribers,” Katz said. “This will enable the company to stretch its content budget further and more efficiently as international programming is generally less expensive than U.S. productions.”

Leaning into ads and live

Moving forward, Netflix is also focusing more on live events as a revenue driver, which may or may not show up in subscribers.

For now, the company is looking at doing one-off events such as its Jake Paul and Mike Tyson fight, as well as its Christmas Day NFL games. However, like Netflix’s reversal on reporting quarterly subscribers, that strategy could change in the future.

“When Netflix stated in its shareholder letter that ‘we’re not focusing on acquiring rights to large regular season sports packages,’ it wouldn’t be surprising for Netflix to reverse course in the near future and acquire more sports rights,” Ross Benes, a senior analyst with eMarketer, said. “Expect the company to continue adapting by embracing strategies that it said it wouldn’t.”