For Netflix, subscriber numbers are going be all that matters
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Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) investors are no strangers to reacting strongly to the company's quarterly earnings results, and what the streaming TV giant has to say about its ability to add new subscribers. 
So, it will be no surprise that when Netflix (NFLX) gives its first-quarter results after the close of trading on Tuesday, investors will key in on not just how many subscribers it added during the first three months of this year, but how many it hopes it will add during its fiscal second quarter.
Netflix (NFLX) has said it expects to add 2.5 million paid subscribers for its first quarter, which would boost its worldwide total to 224.3 million subscribers. Wall Street analysts have also forecast Netflix (NFLX) to earn $2.92 a share, on almost $8 billion in revenue for its first quarter, and said that Netflix's (NFLX) second-quarter outlook will matter to investors at least as much at the company's first-quarter numbers.
Bank of America analyst Nat Schindler said Netflix's (NFLX) "all-important" second-quarter forecasts will be led by the return of popular shows like the upcoming fourth season of "Stranger Things" and any residual positive impact the first-quarter launch of the new season of "Bridgerton". However, Schindler said he was "somewhat concerned" that Wall Street is putting so much hope into what is typically Netflix's (NFLX) weakest quarter for new subscriber additions.
Schindler said analysts' have a consensus forecast of Netflix (NFLX) adding 2.6 million subscribers in its second quarter, which in addition to being more than Netflix's (NFLX) first-quarter outlook, is more than the 1.54 million subscribers Netflix (NFLX) added in the second quarter of 2021.
Last week, Morgan Stanley analyst Benjamin Swinburne cut his price target on Netflix's stock to $425 a share from $450 due to several factors, including risks to subscriber additions in the near term.