Netflix signs up more subscribers than expected on ‘Stranger Things’ fantasy series
Netflix also tripled earnings as it added subscribers in the US, Europe and Latin America
“Stranger Things” is the gift that keeps on giving for Netflix.
The world’s largest online TV network signed up 8.33 million customers in the fourth quarter, surpassing analysts’ estimates of 6.34 million, thanks in large part to the popularity of the fantasy series. Netflix Inc. now has 117.6 million customers worldwide, wrapping up its biggest year ever for new subscribers.
While rival media companies merge, fire staff and fret about the future of their businesses, Netflix keeps chugging along, adding customers at home, in Europe and Latin America. Sales grew by a third to $3.29 billion, the company said Monday after markets closed, while earnings almost tripled from a year prior.
Netflix will plough all of that and more into new TV shows and movies. The company has said it will spend as much as $8 billion on programming this year, and disclosed Monday it will shell out another $2 billion for marketing. The company is dramatically increasing its non-English programming, with plans to release 30 local language productions in 2018.
Shares of the Los Gatos, California-based company rose as much as 9.8 per cent to $249.95 in extended trading, a new high. The stock has gained 19 per cent this year and its market value, at around $100 billion, was more than four times that of CBS Corp., owner of the most watched US TV network.