With Netflix’s stock price at $71.96, Netflix issued its first two-for-one stock split on February 11, 2004. The news, coupled with the company’s one millionth subscriber, sent Netflix’s stock price climbing faster than ever. During the fiscal year, Netflix shipped a million DVDs every day of its 35,000-film library, bringing in $6.5 million profit on $272 million of revenue. In less than six months, Netflix had lost over half its market value.įinally, Netflix posted a profit for the first time ever in 2003. From its first day of trading until October of that year, Netflix stock price sank, falling as low as $4.85 per share. Netflix went public on May 29, 2002, selling 5.5 million shares. Instead, Hastings and Randolph turned their attention to an initial public offering for fresh capital. Drawing on Randolph’s previous experience at a mail order computer company, the duo set out to found Netflix with $2.5 million in cash from Randolph’s mother, 30 employees and 925 DVD’s available to rent for similar rates to rival Blockbuster.īy 2000, having ditched the pay-per-rental model in favor of monthly subscriptions and no late fees, Netflix offered to be acquired by Blockbuster for $50, but the brick-and-mortar chain wasn’t interested.
