Analyst Says Netflix Could Lose 4 Million Subscribers in 2020 as “The Irishman” Has Huge 1st Week

As the streaming wars heat up, one big player could take a big hit in 2020. The Wall Street brokerage firm Needham and Co. says Netflix could lose as many as 4 million premium subscribers in the U.S. next year, Reuters reports. Analyst Laura Martin downgraded the company’s stock, and says Netflix will have to add a lower-priced service in order to compete with Disney+, Apple TV+ and other new streaming competitors.

While Netflix has over 60 million subscribers in the U.S. now, they’ve also taken on over $12 billion in debt as they invest heavily in regional and international content. One big and prestigious piece of that content is the latest Martin Scorsese film The Irishman, which Variety reports was watched by 26 million households during its first week. Netflix expects that about 40 million will end up watching the film in the first 28 days since its November 27 release.