Netflix still No. 1 with a bullet.
The video streaming company continues to surge, reaching 125 million users worldwide
LOS GATOS >> With its most recent quarterly results, Netflix is showing that it has no plans on relinquishing its crown on the throne of the internet-based streaming TV market.
Netflix said Monday that it added 7.41 million new subscribers worldwide during the first quarter of 2018, blowing away its own forecast of 6.3 million subscriber additions. Those gains gave Netflix a total of 125 million subscribers around the world.
In the United States, Netflix proved demand isn’t waning either, as it added 1.96 million new subscribers to reach 56.7 million subscribers in what remains the company’s single largest viewership market. Netflix earlier estimated it would add 1.45 million new U.S. subscribers.
“This was a grand slam quarter across all metrics,” said Dan Ives, chief strategy officer and head of technology research at GBH Insights. “Content is king and Netflix is expanding its competitive moat on the streaming front with this quarter a validating data point for the bulls. This quarter gave the bulls more gasoline in their tanks to drive the stock higher.”
Investors reacted positively to Netflix’s subscriber gains and results by sending the company’s shares up by more than 6 percent, to $327 a share in after-hours trading Monday.
The company said its subscriber gains were fueled by reaction to its slate of original and exclusive programming content, including the premiere of the sci-fi series “Altered Carbon” and the new seasons of shows like “A Series of Unfortunate Events” and “Marvel’s Jessica Jones.”
On a conference call to discuss Netflix’s results, Chief Executive Reed Hastings said Netflix is continuing to invest in content (and) products” and that the “breadth of content we got going is remarkable.”
Haris Anwar, senior analyst with Investing.
com, said that one of the highlights of Netflix’s quarter was the gain in it U.S. subscriber figures which he called “a big surprise” due to some signs of slowing subscriber growth in the U.S. in recent quarters, and a price increase that raised most membership fees by $1 or $2 a month.
“Despite a jump in their monthly bills, Netflix domestic viewers were still loyal and enjoying the company’s popular shows,” Anwar said.
For the quarter that ended in March, Netflix earned 64 cents a share on revenue of $3.7 billion, compared with a profit of 40 cents a share on $2.64 billion in the same period a year ago.
Wall Street analysts had forecast Netflix to earn 63 cents a share on sales of $3.7 billion.
Netflix said it expects to earn 79 cents a share, on $3.93 billion, and add 6.2 million streaming subscribers worldwide for its current, fiscal second quarter.