Big money Netflix plans to bring streaming into the $1 trillion club by 2030 Netflix aims to double its revenue over the next five years, WSJ reports. Scharon Harding – Apr 15, 2025 2:32 pm | 0 A scene from the Netflix original series Adolescence. Credit: Netflix A scene from the Netflix original series Adolescence. Credit: Netflix Story text Size Small Standard Large Width * Standard Wide Links Standard Orange * Subscribers only   Learn more Netflix plans to reach a market capitalization of $1 trillion by 2030, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported this week, citing anonymous people who attended an “annual business review meeting” that Netflix held in March. Netflix's current market capitalization is nearly $400 billion. Netflix is reportedly partnering its market cap goals with plans to double revenue within the same time frame. For 2024, Netflix reported $39,000,966,000 in revenue, meaning the company is aiming to raise its annual revenue to $78,001,932,000 in five years. Compared to the prior five years, Netflix’s revenue grew 93.5 percent from 2019 ($20,156,000,000) to 2024. But that time period represented a different market, one where streaming subscriber counts were rising rapidly, and Netflix faced less competition than it does today. However, Netflix's 2030 revenue goals are also dependent on its advertising business, something Netflix lacked in 2019. WSJ, citing anonymous people who attended Netflix’s March meeting, reported that Netflix plans to make $9 billion in ad sales by 2030. Netflix hasn’t disclosed ad revenue since launching its ad subscription tier in November 2022. But eMarketer has estimated that Netflix will make over $2 billion in US ad revenue this year. Netflix will try growing its ad business by getting more people to subscribe to its ad tier, which is its cheapest subscription option. But additional methods for growing ad revenue will also be critical over the next five years, including showing more live events. Live events force all viewers, including those with ad-free subscriptions, to watch commercials. Netflix will also look to take more control over ad revenue tied to its platform by using proprietary ad technology. Since launching its ad tier, Netflix has largely relied on Microsoft for ad tech. Netflix is supposed to release its own technology, a supply-side platform and ad server called The Netflix Ads Suite, this month. The company has discussed potentially introducing new ad formats, like pause ads, while keeping ad loads at four minutes per hour with its tech. However, US President Donald Trump's wavering tariff plans have stirred uncertainty for advertisers and are expected to hurt the ad market in the coming months and years. Netflix doesn’t plan to disclose subscriber counts anymore, but one of WSJ’s anonymous sources said that the streaming leader wants to have 410 million subscribers by 2030. That would require Netflix to add 108,370,000 more subscribers than it reported at the end of 2024, or about 21,674,000 per year, and expand its global reach. In 2024, Netflix added 41.36 million subscribers, including a record number of new subscribers in Q4 2024. Netflix plans to release its Q1 2025 earnings report on April 17. $1 trillion club hopeful Should Netflix achieve its reported goals, it would be the first to join the $1 trillion club solely through streaming-related business. The club is currently populated mostly by tech brands, including two companies that own Netflix rivals: Apple and Amazon. Netflix is, by far, the most likely streaming candidate to potentially enter the lucrative club. It’s currently beating all other video-streaming providers, including Amazon Prime Video and Disney+, in terms of revenue and profits. Some streaming businesses, including Apple TV+ and Peacock, still aren’t profitable yet. Netflix's reported striving for a $1 trillion market cap exemplifies the meteoric rise of streaming since Netflix launched its streaming service in 2007. As linear TV keeps shrinking, and streaming companies continue learning how to mimic the ads, live TV, and content strategies of their predecessors, the door is open for streaming firms to evolve into some of the world's most highly valued media entities. The potential for Netflix to have a trillion-dollar market cap also has notable implications for rivals Apple and Amazon, which both earned membership into the $1 trillion-dollar club without their streaming services. Whether Netflix will reach the goals reported by WSJ is not guaranteed, but it will be interesting to watch how Netflix's strategy for reaching that lofty goal affects subscribers. Further, with streaming set to be more central to the viewing of TV shows, movies, and live events by 2030, efforts around things like ads, pricing, and content libraries could impact media consumption as we head toward 2030. Scharon Harding Senior Technology Reporter Scharon Harding Senior Technology Reporter Scharon is a Senior Technology Reporter at Ars Technica writing news, reviews, and analysis on consumer gadgets and services. She's been reporting on technology for over 10 years, with bylines at Tom’s Hardware, Channelnomics, and CRN UK. 0 Comments