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The Street
The Street
Business
Tony Owusu

Netflix Just Ditched Its Cheapest Ad Tiers

Netflix (NFLX) -) has been making a lot of unpopular moves with subscribers recently as it looks to appease investors who are looking for lower costs and higher margins. 

In May, the company officially began cracking down on shared accounts in the U.S., limiting the number of users who can use a single sign-in. 

DON'T MISS: Netflix Higher as Goldman Sachs Boosts Rating, Price Target Into Q2 Earnings 

It has also cancelled a number of high-profile films and series as it aims to keep its production budget flat. 

With Netflix's earnings on deck after the closing bell Wednesday, the company confirmed that it has quietly shuttered its cheapest ad-free tier. 

Previously, the 'Basic' tier of Netflix allowed users to watch all of the shows and movies on the platform in standard definition, without advertising, for $9.99 a month.

Now, the company's cheapest ad-free options are the standard and premium tiers which cost $15.49 and $19.99 per month, respectively. 

The 'Standard' tier still costs $6.99 and features ads and that option has proven to be lucrative for the Netflix. 

About 1.5 million people in the U.S. have signed up for the ad tier since the company launched it in November, per The Information.

So far, the moves the company has made to make more money have resonated on Wall Street as the company's stock has risen more than 60% year to date. 

Netflix is expected to report earnings of $2.86 per share on revenue of $8.3 billion. 

Analysts at Wells Fargo are expecting the company to add between 1.5 million and 2.1 million subscribers in the quarter. 

Analysts at Goldman Sachs recently upgraded the stock to neutral from sell while boosting its price target by $170 to $400 per share. Analysts cited "the overall positive current operating performance" and "continued forward positive operating momentum" heading into the second half of the year.

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