NEW YORK, January 1, 2026, 10:10 ET — Market closed.
- Netflix said its Christmas Day NFL streams set U.S. records, a fresh test case for its live-sports push.
- U.S. stock markets are shut for New Year’s Day; Netflix shares last closed at $93.76.
- Investors’ next major catalyst is Netflix’s fourth-quarter results on Jan. 20.
Netflix shares will get their first chance to react on Friday after the streaming company said its Christmas Day National Football League broadcasts set U.S. viewership records, underscoring its push into live programming and advertising.
Why this matters now: live sports has become a rare appointment-viewing draw that can command higher advertising rates, helping streamers sell ads and keep subscribers engaged when churn risk rises.
For Netflix, the timing is tight. Wall Street is heading into the company’s next earnings report looking for evidence that newer revenue drivers — especially advertising — are scaling without eroding margins.
U.S. stock markets are closed on Thursday for New Year’s Day. Netflix (NFLX.O) last closed down about 0.02% at $93.76 on Wednesday, a session that ended before the viewership figures were released after the bell.
Netflix said the Detroit Lions-Minnesota Vikings game averaged 27.5 million U.S. viewers and peaked above 30 million, citing Nielsen data. The earlier Dallas Cowboys-Washington Commanders game averaged 19.9 million, the company said.
The NFL games are part of a deal that runs through 2026, Reuters reported, and fit Netflix’s strategy of using event programming to attract advertisers to its ad-supported plan — a cheaper subscription tier that includes commercials.
Amazon is also leaning into the same playbook. Its Prime Video broadcast of the Denver Broncos-Kansas City Chiefs game averaged 21.06 million viewers, AP reported, showing how marquee sports are increasingly splitting audiences across streaming platforms.
“Netflix is no longer just experimenting with sports, they’re buying in,” Ross Benes, a senior analyst at Emarketer, told Reuters when the company first moved to carry NFL Christmas games. https://www.reuters.com/markets/deals/netf…
Netflix has argued that its advertising business is gaining traction. The company said last month its ads reach more than 190 million monthly active viewers — a measure meant to show ad reach in terms of people rather than accounts — Reuters reported.
Before Friday’s session, traders will be watching whether the stock holds recent support near the prior session’s intraday low around $93.20 and whether it can retake the late-December highs near $95.
The next known catalyst is Netflix’s fourth-quarter earnings on Jan. 20, when it plans to post results and host a live video interview with top executives, including co-CEOs Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters.
Beyond company news, investors will track upcoming U.S. data for signals on rates and consumer spending; the Labor Department’s Employment Situation report for December 2025 is scheduled for Jan. 9.
