Common-Size Balance Sheet: Liabilities and Stockholders’ Equity
Quarterly Data
Netflix Inc., common-size consolidated balance sheet: liabilities and stockholders’ equity (quarterly data)
Based on: 10-Q (reporting date: 2025-09-30), 10-Q (reporting date: 2025-06-30), 10-Q (reporting date: 2025-03-31), 10-K (reporting date: 2024-12-31), 10-Q (reporting date: 2024-09-30), 10-Q (reporting date: 2024-06-30), 10-Q (reporting date: 2024-03-31), 10-K (reporting date: 2023-12-31), 10-Q (reporting date: 2023-09-30), 10-Q (reporting date: 2023-06-30), 10-Q (reporting date: 2023-03-31), 10-K (reporting date: 2022-12-31), 10-Q (reporting date: 2022-09-30), 10-Q (reporting date: 2022-06-30), 10-Q (reporting date: 2022-03-31), 10-K (reporting date: 2021-12-31), 10-Q (reporting date: 2021-09-30), 10-Q (reporting date: 2021-06-30), 10-Q (reporting date: 2021-03-31), 10-K (reporting date: 2020-12-31), 10-Q (reporting date: 2020-09-30), 10-Q (reporting date: 2020-06-30), 10-Q (reporting date: 2020-03-31).
The analysis of the financial structure over the observed periods reveals several key trends in the composition of liabilities and stockholders’ equity.
- Current Content Liabilities
- This category demonstrates a consistent downward trend from 13.58% in the first quarter of 2020 to 7.47% by the third quarter of 2025. This gradual decrease suggests an improving current liability position relative to total liabilities and equity.
- Accounts Payable
- Accounts payable shows moderate fluctuations, generally oscillating between 1.08% and 1.88%. There is no strong directional trend, indicating relatively stable short-term supplier obligations as a proportion of the capital structure.
- Accrued Expenses and Other Liabilities
- Accrued expenses and other liabilities fluctuate around the 3% to 5.7% range, with an observable slight increase toward the later periods, reaching as high as 5.66%. This indicates a growing share of accrued obligations and miscellaneous liabilities within the total capital employed.
- Deferred Revenue
- Deferred revenue remains fairly stable in the range of approximately 2.5% to 3.3%, showing only minor variations, which reflects consistent revenue recognition timing relative to the overall liabilities and equity.
- Short-term Debt
- Short-term debt percentages are irregular in earlier reported periods, with some missing values, but show a notable increase starting in early 2023, rising to a peak of 3.67% in mid-2024 before slightly decreasing again. This suggests changes in short-term borrowing behavior during this timeframe.
- Current Liabilities (Aggregate)
- Overall current liabilities decline from 22.4% in early 2020 to a low near 16% in 2022, followed by an upward trend edging above 20% in 2024, before again declining. This indicates variability in short-term obligations, with a cyclic pattern rather than a continuous trend.
- Non-current Content Liabilities
- A steady decline is seen in non-current content liabilities, falling from 9.14% early in 2020 to 2.9% by late 2025, signaling a reduction in long-term content-related obligations.
- Long-term Debt
- There is a marked downward trend in long-term debt, decreasing from over 40% in the early part of the timeframe to around 26-27% in the latter years. Some periods show minor rebounds, but the general direction reflects deleveraging or refinancing movements toward lower relative debt levels.
- Other Non-current Liabilities
- These liabilities remain relatively stable between approximately 4% and 6%, with slight fluctuations but no clear trend, suggesting a consistent composition of additional non-current obligations.
- Non-current Liabilities (Aggregate)
- The overall non-current liabilities decline steadily from above 53% to near 35%, reflecting a significant shift away from long-term liabilities in the makeup of total capital.
- Total Liabilities
- Total liabilities as a proportion of total liabilities and stockholders’ equity steadily decrease from 76.01% to approximately 52.75%, indicating a notable reduction in the company's reliance on liabilities and a shift toward equity financing.
- Common Stock
- The proportion attributable to common stock shows a gradual increase from about 8.37% in early 2020 to nearly 13% in 2025, suggesting equity issuance or valuation increases contributing positively to the equity base.
- Treasury Stock at Cost
- Treasury stock begins being noted in mid-2020 with increasing negative percentages, reaching a substantial negative level of about -36.9% by late 2025. This large negative figure indicates significant stock repurchases reducing total stockholders’ equity reported.
- Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income (Loss)
- This category fluctuates near zero with minor losses and recoveries but shows periods of noticeable negativity, especially toward 2025. This indicates some volatility in comprehensive income adjustments impacting equity.
- Retained Earnings
- Retained earnings exhibit a strong upward trend, rising from roughly 15.75% to 72.57%, highlighting consistent profitability retention and reinvestment into the company increasing the equity base.
- Stockholders’ Equity (Aggregate)
- Overall stockholders’ equity increases from about 24% to nearly 47% of the total capital structure, reflecting the combined effects of increased retained earnings, higher common stock proportions, and the impact of treasury stock transactions.
In summary, the financial structure reflects a decreasing dependence on liabilities, both current and long-term, with a corresponding growth in equity components primarily driven by rising retained earnings and common stock. Treasury stock activity has markedly increased, indicating aggressive share repurchase programs. The evolving liability and equity mix suggests the company is strengthening its balance sheet by reducing leverage and bolstering equity financing over the analyzed periods.