--- title: "Is Netflix Stock Halal?" canonical: https://www.halalwallet.ca/is-it-halal/netflix-stock publisher: HalalWallet license: CC BY 4.0 verdict: conditional verdict_label: Conditional entity_type: stock ticker: NFLX exchange: NASDAQ last_reviewed: 2026-06-14 data_as_of: 2026-03-31 standards_disagree: false --- # Is Netflix Stock Halal? **Verdict: Conditional** (Permissible with conditions) Netflix, Inc. (NFLX) passes the screens we can compute (data as of 2026-03-31) — interest-bearing debt / market cap 4.3%, cash + interest-bearing securities / market cap 3.6%, impermissible income / total revenue 0.4% — but one screen requires case-by-case judgment. It is not held by Shariah-screened ETFs SPUS or HLAL. > HalalWallet is not a Shariah authority and does not issue religious rulings. We compile the most complete public record of what Shariah scholars, screening authorities, and mainstream standards say — reproduced from primary sources with dates and citations — and let you decide. ## How we read the evidence Netflix is one of the clearest examples of a stock that struggles on the Shariah business-activity screen rather than on its balance sheet alone. The company operates as a single segment, and essentially all of its $45.2 billion in fiscal 2025 revenue comes from monthly streaming memberships and, increasingly, advertising. Unlike a diversified entertainment company, there is no parks or hospitality revenue to offset the content; the product is the content. Most Shariah screeners that look at business activity fail Netflix because producing and distributing film and television entertainment is a category these methodologies treat as impermissible or heavily restricted, owing to music, depictions, and themes that conflict with Islamic guidelines. This is a qualitative judgment, not a disclosed percentage, and it is where the strongest scholarly objection to Netflix lies. An investor who wished to take a more permissive view would still be in a clear minority and would face the same content concern without an easy purification basis, since the impermissible activity is the whole business rather than a slice of it. Netflix also carries meaningful leverage, with $14.5 billion of senior notes outstanding at year-end 2025, which independently pressures the financial-ratio screens. Consistent with both concerns, Netflix is in the S&P 500 yet is held by neither SPUS (as of June 11, 2026) nor HLAL (as of February 28, 2026). The funds do not publish their reasons, but for a Muslim investor the combined picture, content-driven revenue plus significant debt, makes Netflix a name that the major US Shariah methodologies currently exclude and that most screeners would not pass. ## Business activity screen Result: Pass Netflix, Inc. is a subscription streaming entertainment service operating as a single business segment, with revenue derived primarily from monthly membership fees and a growing advertising business. Per its fiscal 2025 10-K (year ended December 31, 2025; filed January 23, 2026), total streaming revenues were $45,183 million, up 16% year over year; advertising revenue surpassed $1.5 billion for the year. Netflix is, like Disney, a business-activity case rather than only a ratio case. Essentially all of its $45.2 billion revenue comes from producing, licensing, and distributing streaming entertainment content, a category many Shariah screeners treat as impermissible or heavily restricted because of music, depictions, and adult or morally objectionable themes. There is no clean revenue line to separate; the entire model is content. Separately, Netflix carries significant interest-bearing debt: $14.5 billion of senior notes outstanding as of December 31, 2025, which feeds the leverage portion of financial screens. Netflix is an S&P 500 constituent but is absent from SPUS (2026-06-11) and HLAL (2026-02-28); the entertainment-content industry screen and/or leverage are plausible causes, but neither fund publishes a stock-level reason. ## Financial ratio screen (AAOIFI) Data as of: 2026-03-31 | Screen | Value | Limit | Result | |---|---|---|---| | Interest-bearing debt / market cap | 4.3% | < 30% | Pass | | Cash + interest-bearing securities / market cap | 3.6% | < 30% | Pass | | Impermissible income / total revenue | 0.4% | < 5% | Pass | Screening basis: AAOIFI Shariah Standard No. 21 — the most widely used and most conservative mainstream standard (interest-bearing debt and securities each < 30% of market cap; impermissible income < 5%). Other standards (Dow Jones Islamic, S&P Shariah, MSCI Islamic, FTSE Yasaar) use ~33% limits or screen against total assets. Full methodology: https://www.halalwallet.ca/halal-stock-screening-methodology ## How it screens across Shariah standards All three mainstream bases below reach the same conclusion for this company. | Standard | Debt | Cash & interest securities | Limit / basis | Result | |---|---|---|---|---| | AAOIFI (our standard) | 4.3% | 3.6% | < 30% of market cap | Pass | | Dow Jones Islamic / S&P Shariah threshold | 4.3% | 3.6% | < 33% of market cap | Pass | | MSCI Islamic / FTSE Yasaar basis | 24.2% | 20.2% | < 33.33% of total assets | Pass | HalalWallet computation reproducing each standard's threshold and denominator from public filings (balance sheet as of 2026-03-31) — not the providers' licensed index determinations, which can differ. Debt is interest-bearing borrowings (operating leases excluded); the < 5% impermissible-income screen is common to all and shown above. Dow Jones/S&P use a trailing 24–36-month average market cap; MSCI/FTSE add entry/exit buffers and a receivables screen. ## Conditions Our computed AAOIFI financial-ratio screen passes on the latest filing data, but both major U.S. Shariah-screened ETFs — SPUS (S&P Shariah methodology) and HLAL (FTSE Shariah methodology) — exclude Netflix, Inc. from their holdings as of our June 2026 check, even though it is in their parent indices. Professional screens apply filing-level business-activity analysis (alcohol, pork, tobacco, or media revenue share) and different ratio bases that an automated ratio screen cannot replicate. That divergence usually signals an impermissible-revenue question. Treat this as unresolved until the segment revenue in the latest annual filing is verified line by line. ## Scholars' and screeners' positions - **SP Funds S&P 500 Sharia ETF (SPUS)**: Not held in SPUS as of 2026-06-11. Absence can reflect screen failure or index scope — verify before citing as a screen outcome. ([source](https://www.sp-funds.com/spus/)) - **Wahed FTSE USA Shariah ETF (HLAL)**: Not held in HLAL as of 2026-06-11. Absence can reflect screen failure or index scope — verify before citing as a screen outcome. ([source](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1683471/000089418926012509/wahedshariah.htm)) ## Sources - NFLX latest quarterly filing (balance sheet 2026-03-31) (https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&company=Netflix%2C%20Inc.&type=10-Q) - AAOIFI Shariah Standards (https://aaoifi.com) - Netflix FY2025 10-K / annual report (SEC EDGAR PDF) (https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1065280/000119312526159306/d69076dars.pdf) - Netflix FY2025 10-K filing index (SEC EDGAR, accession 0001065280-26-000034) (https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=0001065280&type=10-K) - SPUS holdings (SP Funds) (https://www.sp-funds.com/spus/) - HLAL Schedule of Investments 2026-02-28 (SEC EDGAR) (https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1683471/000089418926012509/wahedshariah.htm) ## Frequently asked questions ### Is Netflix, Inc. (NFLX) stock halal? Netflix, Inc. is conditional under our screen — one or more lines need filing-level verification before treating it as clearly halal or not halal. ### Does Netflix, Inc. pass the AAOIFI financial ratio screen? As of 2026-03-31: interest-bearing debt is 4.3% of market cap (limit < 30%); cash plus interest-bearing securities is 3.6% (limit < 30%). The impermissible-income line is verified against the annual filing where noted on this page. ### Is Netflix, Inc. held in halal ETFs like SPUS or HLAL? No — as of our last check, Netflix, Inc. is not held by SPUS or HLAL. 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