Netflix’s stock jumps as it adds 7.41M subscribers
Netflix Inc. posted its strongest start to a year since the company went public 16 years ago, thanks to fast growth in markets across Latin America and Europe.
The company added 7.41 million subscribers in the first quarter of the year, according to a company statement Monday, easily topping analysts’ projections.
Netflix now has 125 million paying customers, the most of any online TV network.
The company, the best-performing stock in the S&P 500 this year, is proving one quarter at a time that investors’ confidence in its online TV service has been justified. Netflix is using its growing subscriber base and deep pockets to poach talent and build a Hollywood studio for the internet age.
Shares of Netflix rose as much as 8.3 per cent to $333.21 (U.S) in extended trading after the re- sults were announced. The stock fell 1.2 per cent to $307.78 at the close in New York and is up 60 per cent this year.
Other big technology companies, including Amazon.com Inc., Apple Inc., Alphabet Inc. and Facebook Inc., also rose after the results were announced. While none moved more than 1 per cent, the gains marked a positive start to earnings seasons for a sector under pressure in recent months.
Netflix, based in California, said first-quarter profit rose to 64 cents a share, from 40 cents a year earlier.
That met analysts’ projections of 64 cents. Sales for the quarter grew 40 per cent to $3.70 billion, compared with Wall Street projections of $3.69 billion.
For the current quarter, Netflix is predicting earnings of 79 cents and revenue of $3.93 billion. That compares with analysts’ estimates of 65 cents a share in profit and sales of $3.89 billion.