Why Netflix is being targeted by shareholders

Netflix is facing criticism from shareholders, with the company hit by a lawsuit for allegedly misleading the market

The shareholders at the centre of the claim say the streaming giant has lied about its ability to keep adding subscribers over recent months.

Filed in a San Francisco federal court… the case is seeking damages for declines in the Netflix share price this year.

The case accuses California-based Netflix and its top executives of failing to admit that increasing competition was leading to a plunge in subscribers.

It follows announcements the company had missed its subscriber growth estimates… with shares dropping 20% in January… before plunging more than 35% on April 20.

Netflix lost 200,000 subscribers in its first quarter… falling well short of its forecast of adding 2.5 million new users.

The company says this is all due to a combination of factors… including inflation, competition from other streaming services and its suspension of service in Russia.