Netflix’s Emmy Night Success Pushes Streaming Giant to Big Wall Street Gains

Shares increase 5 percent, day after Netflix tied HBO for most Emmy wins

Jeff Daniels Netflix Emmy
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Netflix’s Monday night Emmy party kept rolling along on Tuesday, with the streaming giant enjoying a Wall Street bump after tying HBO for the most trophies in 2018.

Netflix and HBO both brought home 23 trophies, after Netflix paced the pack with seven Primetime Emmy wins on Monday night. Western drama “Godless” netted both Jeff Daniels and Merritt Wever trophies for their supporting roles, while “The Crown” contributed two awards of its own.

And Netflix’s big bet on stand-up comedy paid off, too, with John Mulaney’s “Kid Gorgeous at Radio City” winning for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Special. The night was littered with several Netflix shows that were nominated as well, including Jason Bateman-led “Ozark,” “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt,” and ’80s wrestling comedy “Glow.”

Investors rewarded Netflix’s success with a vote of confidence it’ll keep the hits coming. Netflix shares increased nearly five percent on Tuesday, hitting $367.55 a share. If you threw your Christmas or Hanukah bonus into Netflix at the beginning of the year, congratulations: Netflix shares are up 83 percent in 2018.

Netflix has blitzed from $201 a share to north of $365 since the start of 2018 (via Google)

Monday night highlighted the streaming revolution is reaching new heights. Netflix and Amazon, behind its five wins for period comedy “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” grabbed nearly half of the night’s awards, pulling in 12 of 26 Primetime Emmys. Hulu was shut out, one year after earning the coveted Outstanding Drama Series award, but still won four Emmys this year.

Altogether, the big three streaming service earned 161 total nominations — a 31 percent jump from last year. Netflix led the way, with its 112 nominations toppling HBO’s 17-year run as the most nominated network. (HBO, for its part, still pulled in 108 noms and has transitioned about as well as any legacy media company to the streaming world.)

While the streaming services are often coy when it comes to viewership, it’s not hard to see their trajectory in comparison to traditional TV. Netflix passed 130 million subscribers last quarter, Amazon chief Jeff Bezos revealed earlier this year it has 100 million Prime customers, and Hulu boasts about 20 million paying customers.

Their shows are now the mainstream. And with more tech money entering the content battle, expecting YouTube or Apple to crash the party in the years ahead isn’t a stretch.

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