Bold move: Netflix price hikes cloud outlook, just as rivals look to pounce

How much are customers willing to pay for Netflix?

The streaming service is grappling with that question once again after raising prices in some of its largest territories over the past month. Netflix predicted it would add just 5 million new customers in the current quarter, well short of Wall Street forecasts for 6.09 million — a slowdown the company blamed in part on its pricier offerings.

Though the increases should help improve Netflix’s bottom line, they come at a time when streaming competitors are proliferating.

“Netflix is balancing subscriber additions with a shift toward profitability,” Geetha Ranganathan, an analyst with Bloomberg Intelligence, said in a report.