Netflix crushes subscriber forecasts again with more than 9M new customers
second straight quarter on Thursday as ad-supported streaming plans helped bring in 9.3 million new customers as the streaming giant’s decision to crack down on password sharing continue to pay dividends.Earnings per share for January through March came in at $5.28, compared with $2.88 a year earlier.Netflix revenue rose 14.8% to nearly $9.4 billion during the period, when the service debuted titles such as sci-fi drama series “3 Body Problem” and crime thriller “Griselda.”Operating income totaled $2.6 billion, a year-over-year increase of 54%.Analysts had expected Netflix to gain roughly 5 million subscribers around the world during the quarter, according to LSEG data, after record gains at the end of 2023.The additions brought Netflix’s total subscribers to 269.6 million at the end of March.“We have built a hard to replicate combination of a strong slate, superior recommendations, broad reach and intense fandom, which drives healthy engagement on Netflix,” the company said in a letter to shareholders.As competitors such as Walt Disney are losing money from their streaming efforts, Netflix keeps gaining customers and building profit. In the shareholder letter, the company said it would work to improve the variety and quality of its entertainment and scale its advertising business to grow further.Netflix began offering ad-supported plans, which cost less than half of the options without commercials, in November 2022.