by Lisa Richwine and Dawn Chmielewski
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Netflix beat Wall Street’s expectations for its number of new subscribers for a second consecutive quarter, but signaled on Thursday that the good surprises could be over, with the group providing a forecast for the current quarter lower than the consensus.
The title of the streaming giant made seesaw movements in post-closing stock market trading, gaining 3% before falling back by the same amount.
Netflix said it gained 9.3 million customers in the January-March period, according to results released Thursday. According to LSEG data, analysts on average expected around 5 million new global subscribers in the first quarter, following a record number of new subscribers in the October-December period.
In total, the number of Netflix subscribers worldwide stood at 269.6 million at the end of March.
For the current quarter, the group said it expected a turnover of 9.49 billion euros, against a consensus of 9.537 billion euros.
In the January-March period, Netflix reported earnings of $5.28 per share, up from $2.88 a year earlier.
Its quarterly revenue rose 14.8% to nearly $9.4 billion, and its operating profit jumped 54% year-on-year to $2.6 billion.
“We have built a combination, hard to copy, of a strong slate (of programs), superior recommendations, broad reach and fans,” the group said in a letter to shareholders.
While its rivals, such as Walt Disney, suffer financial losses to develop their streaming activities, Netflix continues to reap customers and profits, having implemented less expensive subscriptions with advertisements and fighting against the sharing of passwords, so that those using the platform pay for access.
The group indicated that its offers with advertisements now represented 40% of new subscribers in the markets where they are available.
To meet the diversity of its customers around the world, Netflix is striving to expand its programming, with the broadcast of various live events, whether sports or entertainment. The platform has signed a ten-year, $5 billion agreement to broadcast a WWE wrestling program starting next year.
(Lisa Richwine and Dawn Chmielewski; Jean Terzian)
Copyright © 2024 Thomson Reuters
I have over 8 years of experience working in the news industry. I have worked as a reporter, editor, and now managing editor at 247 News Agency. I am responsible for the day-to-day operations of the news website and overseeing all of the content that is published. I also write a column for the website, covering mostly market news.
