Yahoo Finance Netflix co-CEO: Dealmaking isn't off the table, but we'll be 'very choosy'
At the Goldman Sachs Communacopia and Tech Conference, the streaming giant said it's laser focused on executing on content.
Netflix (NFLX) is looking for growth, and it will do what it needs to do to get it, Netflix co-CEO Greg Peters said Tuesday at the Goldman Sachs Communacopia and Tech Conference in San Francisco.
"Our top priority is to fuel the growth of the business by focusing on the core that we've been focused on for so long," Peters told the audience. "A second-order component for this is when we very selectively find M&A opportunities that we think meet all of our criteria."
Peters, who joined Ted Sarandos in the dual CEO role earlier this year, said that moving forward Netflix will be more exacting about M&A.
"We've been very, very choosy about [deals] because we think that there's a lot of opportunity," Peters added. "It's very complicated versus focusing on the core."
The company is reportedly eyeing intellectual property deals and could be considering acquiring traditional Hollywood assets, such as studios.
In the past, Netflix has acquired studios such as Australian animation studio Animal Logic and made intellectual property deals such as its 2021 acquisition of the Roald Dahl Story Company. The streaming company has also scooped up gaming studios in recent years.
However, looking ahead, content will be the key investment that Peters sees Netflix doubling down on.
"The biggest thing is if we can actually execute against the investments that we're making already," Peters said. "That's the highest-leverage, most impactful thing you can do with what our users care about the most, and so we're putting most of our energy and attention on making that better."
Netflix has kept a close eye on profitability this year as it executes against those investments by doubling down on cost-cutting, cracking down on password-sharing, and finding ways to save on original content, as Yahoo Finance's Allie Canal previously reported.
It's all part of a strategy of "wanting to take fewer swings but better swings," Third Bridge analyst Jamie Lumley told Yahoo Finance in June.
Despite a backdrop of a historic Hollywood strike and the mounting costs that come with that — which moderators didn't ask Peters about — Netflix's efforts appear to be paying off so far.
Netflix stock has risen north of 50% year to date and over 100% over the last 12 months.
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Allie Garfinkle is a Senior Tech Reporter at Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter at @agarfinks and on LinkedIn.
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