Netflix released its latest earnings report after closing bell tonight, posting earnings of 15 cents per share on $2.48 billion in revenue. Analysts had been expecting 13 cents per share on earnings and $2.47 billion in revenues. In the same quarter a year ago, the video streaming service provider reported earnings of 10 cents per share.
Netflix’s subscriber numbers surprise to the upside… big time
Domestic streaming revenue rose to $1.4 billion from $1.1 billion last year, while international streaming revenue climbed to $948 million from $566 million. Total streaming revenue grew to $2.35 billion from $1.67 billion in the same quarter a year ago.
Netflix added 7.05 million subscribers during the fourth quarter, including 1.93 million domestic subscribers and 5.12 million international subscribers. The company’s management had guided for 1.45 million net new domestic subscribers and 3.75 million net new international subscribers, for a total of 5.2 million global adds. Analysts had been expecting a total of 4.7 million net adds, including 1.2 million domestic subscribers and 3.5 international subscribers.
The company noted that in only four years, its original series accounted for five of the top ten most-searched TV shows around the globe in 2016. Stranger Things was in first place, according to Google Trends. The Crown won the award for Best TV Series in the Drama Category at the Golden Globes, while leading lady Claire Foy won the Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actress in a TV Series in the Drama category. Netflix also received 17 nominations for the Screen Actors Guild Awards, the most of any network.
Netflix provides guidance for the first quarter
Netflix expects to post total streaming revenue of around $2.5 billion in the current quarter and add about 5.2 million net new subscribers, including about 1.5 million new domestic subscribers and 3.7 million international subscribers. For the March quarter, analysts are expecting earnings of 18 cents per share and $2.6 billion in revenue. The Street was expecting a guide for 1.72 million domestic adds and 3.5 million international adds, but apparently the company’s history of subscriber beats makes this miss on guidance a moot point.
Shares of Netflix stock skyrocketed by as much as 8.08% to touch a new record high of $143.78 in after-hours trading tonight.
