Netflix reported better-than-expected results Tuesday afternoon. But the big news was the streaming video company added more subscribers in one quarter than ever in its history.
The streaming video provider reported fourth-quarter earnings per share of $4.27, compared with Wall Street’s consensus estimate of $4.21, according to FactSet. Revenue for the quarter reached $10.25 billion, which was above analysts’ expectations of $10.1 billion.
Netflix generated a net gain of 18.9 million paid subscriptions during the December quarter versus the projection of 9.8 million paid subscriptions. The company said it was the “biggest quarter of net adds in our history” compared with 13 million in the fourth quarter of 2023 and 5 million in the third quarter of 2024.
The company’s annual outlook was also solid. Netflix said 2025 revenue should fall in a range of $43.5 billion to $44.5 billion, above Wall Street’s $43.65 billion estimate at the midpoint.
“Our Q4 slate outperformed even our high expectations,” executives wrote in the letter to shareholders. “We maintain a leadership position in engagement, revenue and profit. We’re focused on improving all aspects of our service.”
Netflix stock jumped 14% in premarket trading on Tuesday following the release. Futures tracking the S&P 500 were up 0.4%.
Management cited a robust slate of recent original shows and live events for the strong subscriber results. The second season of Squid Game and the Jake Paul-Mike Tyson fight were released in the fourth quarter.
Netflix said they are raising prices on most plans in the U.S., Canada, Portugal, and Argentina. The company didn’t reveal the magnitude of the price adjustments in the letter to shareholders.
Management also said the board authorized an additional $15 billion stock buyback program.
Last week, Oppenheimer analyst Jason Helfstein reiterated his Outperform rating for Netflix, citing the success of its latest wave of shows.
“We continue to see Netflix benefiting from less competition driving better [subscriber] churn and content leverage,” he wrote.
Netflix stock is up nearly 80% over the past 12 months.