Streaming giant Netflix has announced a change in its viewing report frequency, moving from a biannual to an annual publication schedule.

The second season of "Beef" was among the most popular shows on Netflix last quarter.

Netflix's guidance, indicating a deceleration in revenue and profit growth for the third quarter, has heightened investor concerns that the company's expansion may be reaching its peak.

The company forecasts third-quarter revenue growth of just 11.7% year-over-year, the slowest quarterly increase since late 2023. Following the earnings release, the stock plummeted more than 8% in after-hours trading.

During Thursday's earnings call, Netflix executives emphasized the company still has significant room for growth, currently holding only about 5% of the global TV viewing market. Chief Financial Officer Spencer Neumann stated, "We believe there is a very large runway ahead of us."

The company reported second-quarter revenue of $12.56 billion, a year-over-year increase of over 13%. Net profit rose nearly 9% to $3.4 billion, with overall performance largely meeting analyst expectations.

Netflix attributed part of this quarter's growth to recent membership price increases and the expansion of its advertising business.

Prior to this earnings report, Netflix's stock had fallen more than 40% over the past year. The decline began when the company was reported to be considering an acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery's film and streaming assets—a move seen as a departure from its traditional strategy. Even though the bid ultimately failed, the stock's downward trend persisted.

Netflix disclosed on Thursday that total viewing hours on its platform exceeded 97 billion in the first half of 2026, up 1.5% from the second half of 2025 and 1.9% higher than the first half of the previous year.

Netflix management has consistently focused on increasing user engagement time on the platform. For streaming companies, user engagement is a critical metric, with higher engagement indicating greater user satisfaction and a lower likelihood of subscription cancellations.

Data from research firm Antenna shows Netflix's user churn rate in June was just 2.11%, significantly outperforming the industry.

Key new releases driving popularity last quarter included the series adaptation of Harlan Coben's "I Will Find You" and the second season of "Beef."

The company announced it is adjusting the release schedule of its "What We're Watching" engagement report, which details viewing hours for shows and movies. Previously published twice a year, it will now be issued annually.

Netflix noted that new paying subscribers supported this quarter's performance. The company stopped reporting quarterly net subscriber additions at the beginning of last year. Last week, Netflix began testing free trials for non-members in several global markets.

Co-CEO Greg Peters told analysts the company is intensely focused on boosting engagement: "It's a metric that we pour our hearts and souls into."

Media reports have indicated that to drive engagement, management is planning to launch live, 24/7 channels for specific content genres and is exploring bundled subscription packages with other streaming platforms.

The platform continues to add video podcast content and is actively acquiring rights to live sports and major events to attract new users. The company expects to allocate about 5% of this year's content budget to live sports.

The company's second-quarter operating margin narrowed to 33.4% from 34.1% a year earlier, though it remained above the previously forecast 32.6%. Free cash flow for the quarter fell to $1.53 billion from $2.27 billion a year ago, partly due to tax expenses related to a termination fee paid for the failed Warner acquisition bid.

The full-year revenue forecast range has been narrowed to $51.0 billion to $51.4 billion, landing in the middle of the prior guidance range. The full-year operating margin expectation remains unchanged at 31.5%.