Weekly "Focus" and Netflix’s Next Sensation

South Korea has been fertile ground for Netflix* in identifying the hit series Squid Game and now get ready for a new cultural phenomenon: the animated series KPop Demon Hunters. The series takes advantage of the huge interest in the South Korean K-Pop musical genre known for high energy boy and girl bands. Check out the trailer to the new series here: https://youtu.be/AzCAwdp1uIQ.

 

Netflix has grown to over 300 million worldwide subscribers in 190 countries and produces content in many of them. The company has sure come a long way since it used to mail DVDs to your home. The shares (symbol NFLX) have been a strong performer, up 35% in 2025, outpacing the S&P 500 Index which is higher by more than 8% (i). Brian Pitz is the BMO Capital Markets analyst covering the company and believes Netflix is already seeing the benefit of AI by lowering the cost of their productions. I wonder how AI assisted in making the 5^th and final season of their hit series Stranger Things, available on November 26^th and sure to be another blockbuster hit.

 

This week’s "Focus" from our economics team is attached.

 

Have a great weekend,

 

Brad

Senior Portfolio Manager and Senior Investment Advisor