Netflix has filed to sell $1.8 billion in debt, the first time the company has been upgraded to investment-grade status by credit ratings agencies Moody's and S&P last year.
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The move, announced in a quarterly letter to shareholders that accompanied this month’s earnings report, is intended to make Netflix’s $12.2 billion in long-term debt more manageable. Overall, the company has gone from a money-losing operation in recent years to owning one of the most enviable balance sheets in the entertainment industry. The last time it raised money through a debt sale was in April 2020, at the start of the Covid pandemic.
“We have $1.8 billion of debt maturing over the next 12 months, which we plan to refinance,” the company wrote in its letter to shareholders. In an SEC filing on Tuesday, the company said the proceeds from the debt sale would be used for “general corporate purposes.” The transaction will consist of two parts: $1 billion due in 2034 with an interest rate of 4.9%, and $800 million due in 2054 with an interest rate of 5.4%.
The financial move comes nearly two weeks after the company reported another strong set of results. In the quarter ended June 30, the company added 8 million subscribers, bringing its global total to nearly 278 million.
