More volatile than Bitcoin? Netflix shares plunge 25%

The streaming service’s stock price took a major hit after releasing disappointing user numbers, making some in the crypto community cry foul at the volatility.

The stock market has once again made crypto look stable by comparison with the Netflix (NFLX) stock price dropping 25% in after-hours trading tod.

The news that sparked the dramatic tumble was the revelation on Tuesday that the streaming service has lost 200,000 customers in the first quarter of 2022 and projects it will lose a further two million subscribers this quarter. This marks the first time the company has tallied losses in user numbers since 2011 according to Bloomberg.

Investors reacted by dumping NFLX shares in after-hours trading, causing prices to crash to a new yearly low of $258.90. When trading opens for the day at 1:30pm UTC on April 20, it is unclear what price the stock will open at.

Such price action has drawn some glee from the crypto community who have long faced criticism from traditional investors that crypto is too volatile.

Crypto analyst and host of the YouTube channel Into the Cryptoverse Benjamin Cowen tweeted to his 622,000 followers today that the NFLX crash reminds him of “how stocks became more like #crypto, rather than the other way around.”

Watching $NFLX drop -26% after hours reminds me how stocks became more like #crypto, rather than the other way around

— Benjamin Cowen (@intocryptoverse) April 19, 2022

The NFLX stock price has performed worse in 2022 than Bitcoin (BTC) has this year. NFLX has lost 57% since Jan 1, 2022 when it was at its height for the year at $597.37. By comparison, BTC is down 11% overall since its 2022 opening price of $46,319 to $41,288 according to CoinGecko. 

Other tech stocks have seen crypto-like daily losses this year. On Feb. 2, PayPal (PYPL) dropped 20% from $172.77 to $139.89. On the same day, Meta Platforms (META) — fomerly Facebook — dropped 25% from $327.82 to $244.65.

But before crypto pundits get ahead of themselves, it must be noted that Bitcoin has fallen harder than those tech stocks during previous crypto market crashes. The last time BTC fell at least 25% in a single day was March 12, 2020, when it fell 41% from $7969 to $4776.

Analysis carried out by crypto research firm Into The Block and released on April 16 found that BTC and Ether (ETH) “have been less volatile than many stocks, especially those with crypto offerings.”

Its analysis used the Sharpe ratio to compare volatility across different investments. The lower the score, the less volatile the asset. Bitcoin received a score of -0.02, while Square (-0.05), MicroStrategy (-0.02), and Coinbase (-0.02) either matched on underperformed BTC.

Lower Returns, More Volatility - Contrary to popular belief, $BTC and $ETH have been less volatile than many stocks, especially those with crypto offerings

The Sharpe ratio accounts for returns relative to price volatility. Here, most crypto companies match or underperform BTC pic.twitter.com/sV0QSsCR6J

— IntoTheBlock (@intotheblock) April 15, 2022

Host of the Coin Stories podcast Natalie Brunell tweeted today that Netflix might be able to solve some of its current problems by adding BTC to its balance sheet.

Maybe $NFLX should get some #Bitcoin content (and BTC on its balance sheet). ‍♀️

— Natalie Brunell (@natbrunell) April 19, 2022