Netflix released its second quarter earnings report after closing bell tonight, posting revenue of $1.64 billion and earnings of 6 cents per share. Analysts had been expecting earnings of 4 cents per share (on a split-adjusted basis) on $1.65 billion in revenue. The streaming video provider completed its announced 7-for-1 stock split as of the open of trading this morning.
After tonight’s earnings announcement, shares of Netflix climbed as much as 10% to $108.65 per share.
In the same quarter last year, Netflix posted revenue of $1.3 billion.
Key metrics from Netflix’s earnings report
During the second quarter, Netflix added 3.3 million new streaming subscribers, setting a new record for the quarter and surpassing 65 million members. In last year’s second quarter, the company added only 1.7 million subscribers. In the U.S., the company added 900,000 subscribers, and internationally, it added 2.4 million subscribers. Netflix management believes the subscriber add beat was mainly due to the company’s original content. During the second quarter, they launched their largest number of high profile original series to date.
One driver of U.S. revenue growth was the increase in average selling price as subscribers adopt their two-stream HD plans. By 2020, Netflix management expects a 40% U.S. contribution margin, although currently the company is running ahead of plan due to better than expected performance on the top line and lower costs for content and streaming.
International revenue climbed 48% year over year even though Netflix took a hit of $83 million due to currency exchange. On a sequential basis, international losses fell due to a full quarter of costs in Australia and New Zealand. Netflix expects the trend to continue through the second half of this year as it continues to expand, moving into Japan in the current quarter and then Spain, Italy and Portugal in the fourth quarter.
Netflix provides guidance
Netflix management expects earnings for the third quarter to be around 7 cents, compared to the consensus estimate of 5 cents. They’re expecting revenue to be around $1.593 billion. The company expects to add 1.15 million net new subscribers and 2.4 million net new international subscribers during the third quarter.
Netflix management is still trying to remain at break-even globally for net income through 2016.
