Netflix numbers soar
International viewers drawn in by fresh programming
Netflix signed up a record 7.05 million new customers in the fourth quarter, topping analysts’ estimates for US and international growth to cap the company’s first year as a global online TV service.
The company added 5.12m new customers in international markets, beating analysts’ estimates of 3.78m. California-based Netflix also signed 1.93m new domestic customers, exceeding projections of 1.38m.
The popularity of the period drama The Crown, about a young Queen Elizabeth II, and new seasons of Gilmore Girls and Black Mirror helped Netflix lift its total online customer base to almost 94m.
Since expanding to 130 new countries last January, Netflix has delivered strong international gains and could see foreign subscribers exceed its US base this year.
Fourth-quarter sales rose 36 per cent to US$2.47 billion ($3.5b) from a year earlier, meeting the average of estimates compiled by Bloomberg.
Earnings grew to US15c a share from US10c a year ago, beating estimates of US13c.
Netflix predicts it will sign 1.5m new domestic streaming subscribers in the first quarter, while analysts project 1.72 million.
International subscribers will grow by 3.7m, the company said, compared with estimates of 3.5m.
First-quarter earnings will be US$165m, or US37c a share, a big first instalment on founder and chief executive Reed Hastings’s vow to deliver material profit in 2017.
The company, the world’s largest paid video service, bet on globally replicating its success in the US, where it has almost 50m customers, sacrificing near-term profit while spending on programming and marketing to build a global audience. Hastings still has a long way to go. While Netflix has signed up almost half of the market at home, it hasn’t reached that percentage of broadband households in even its strongest foreign territories, such as the UK and Canada.