Netflix CEO Reed Hastings
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Netflix shares were up slightly after-the-bell Tuesday after the company posted third quarter results, showing investors the streamer can continue to attract new subscribers.
- Earnings per share (EPS): $3.19 vs $2.56 according to Refinitiv survey of analysts
- Revenue: $7.48 billion vs $7.48 billion, according to Refinitiv
- Global paid net subscriber additions: 4.4 million vs 3.84 million, according to StreetAccount
The quarter’s subscriber growth of 4.4 million was a solid beat over the expected 3.84 million. Analysts had expected users to flock to the streamer as it began to roll out a slew of content that was delayed to the back half of the year.
The company said it expects to add 8.5 million subscribers in the fourth quarter.
Netflix also announced it start using new metrics for reporting viewers. The company will start reporting hours viewed rather than the number of accounts that watched.
For example, the company’s current top film is “Extraction,” with 99 million accounts having watched at least two minutes of the title in its first 28 days on Netflix. Future reporting would put “Bird Box” as the top film, 282 million total hours viewed in its first 28 days on the platform.
The company said in a letter to investors that the new metrics “matches how outside services measure TV viewing and gives proper credit to rewatching.”
Netflix will also release title metrics more regularly outside of its earnings report, it added.
Netflix also updated investors on its push into gaming. The company said it’s begun testing its games in select countries, but “it remains very early days for this initiative.”
The games will be a part of Netflix subscriptions and will not include advertisements or in-app purchases.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
