Netflix’s user numbers impress
NETFLIX has long said it wants to be the world’s first online TV network, and investors are looking beyond the US now, too.
Netflix added 5.6 million subscribers to its onlinestreaming service in the fourth quarter, including more than 4 million from outside the US, according to its statement released on Tuesday. Both of those figures surpassed analysts’ forecasts, as did projections for subscriber growth in the next quarter.
The outsized international gain eased investors’ concerns about the company’s slowing domestic growth. Netflix missed its own US subscriber forecast for a second consecutive quarter.
The shares rose after the online service said it had added 17 million customers in 2015, including almost 12 million overseas, and projected that international growth would accelerate this year.
“The value of the stock is coming from international markets,” Mark Mahaney, an analyst with RBC Capital Markets, said.
While plenty of countries now offer streaming-video services – there are eight in Spain alone, with HBO about to enter the market – Netflix has built a reputation that has helped it gain subscribers quickly in new markets.
Viewers were eager to learn when Netflix would arrive in their countries and what programming it would provide, chief content officer Ted Sarandos said.
Netflix rose 7.7 percent to $116.21 (R1 949) in extended trading after results were announced. The stock gained 3.7 percent to $107.89 at the close in New York.
Company chief executive Reed Hastings has pledged material profits once the company completes the international roll-out of the only global, ondemand TV network delivered over the internet. – Bloomberg