Netflix shares jump as it adds record number of subscribers

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Netflix added a record 19 million subscribers in the fourth quarter as viewers flocked to stream new episodes. Squid Game: and live sporting events, including the much-hyped boxing match between Mike Tyson and Jake Paul.

Growth meant Netflix: had 301 million total subscribers at the end of 2024, up 15 percent from a year earlier and beating Wall Street’s expectation of 293 million. Its shares rose more than 13 percent after hours.

Netflix has announced that it will raise prices in the US, Canada, Portugal and Argentina. down to $7.99.

“[Netflix] is now flexing its muscles by adjusting prices to account for stronger and more diversified programming than its competitors,” said Paolo Pescatore, analyst at PP Foresight.

It streaming Pioneer made a big splash in live sports in the fourth quarter, when a boxing match between Tyson and Paul drew 65 million viewers worldwide. million viewers.The second season is also debuting on Netflix Squid Game:which reached a record 68 million views in its first week.

“We enter 2025 with strong momentum coming from record net (subscriber) additions and accelerated growth again,” the company wrote in a letter to shareholders.

It added that while the business remains “intensely competitive”, it lacks the “distractions” to manage the decline in TV networks that its rivals in traditional Hollywood studios are dealing with.

Fourth-quarter revenue was $10.2 billion, and the company raised this year’s revenue guidance by $500 million, up 14 percent from 2024. Earnings per share more than doubled to $4.27 from a year earlier. from $11, and operating income exceeded $2 billion by 52 percent.

This is the last time Netflix will report quarterly subscriber numbers, which have been closely watched by investors for years, but it said it will continue to release numbers “as we pass key milestones.”

Its subscriber base has grown since a crackdown on the password in May 2023, sending shares up more than 80 percent in 2024. But the stock has had a bumpy start to 2025.

Wall Street had been bracing for subscription growth to slow as the initiative’s initial push waned. But Netflix is ​​betting big on live events to attract new subscribers, and this month it debuted its weekly WWE Raw broadcasts. part of a 10-year contract with the wrestling entertainment group.

Executives said live events will help deliver the audiences advertisers want.The ad business has had a shaky start since its introduction in the fall of 2022, given the weakness in the industry.

“A top priority for 2025 is to improve our offering for advertisers so that we can significantly increase our advertising revenue,” the letter to shareholders said.