$how time!
Subscribers flock & profits soar
IT SEEMS like green is the new black for Netflix.
The streaming video service on Wednesday reported a quarterly profit that climbed sixfold as it lured more U.S. subscribers than expected.
The news sent its shares flying 17% higher in afterhours trading.
“They’re pulling more people in, they’re keeping them longer, and at the same time ramping up their profitability,” Janney Montgomery Scott media and entertainment analyst Tony Wible told the Daily News.
With popular original programming like “Orange Is the New Black” and “House of Cards,” Netflix recently beat out cable network HBO for U.S. subscribers.
Netflix added 2.3 million U.S. customers in the fourth quarter and said it expects to gain 2.25 million in the current one. The company also said it is testing new pricing that would limit how many viewers can share accounts, potentially raising subscrib- ers’ bills.
Including free trials, its U.S. subscribers hit 33.4 million, above analysts’ 33.1 million forecast.
The company has recovered from an ill-fated 2011 decision to hike prices and separate its DVD business. Netflix’ stock nearly quadrupled in 2013.
Its net income jumped to $48.4 million, while sales for the fourth quarter rose 24% to $1.18 billion.