The video streaming market leader $NFLX (+1,21 %) significantly increased its revenue and profit in the past quarter. Revenue grew by 12.5 percent year-on-year to a good 10.5 billion dollars. At the bottom line, the quarterly profit jumped by 24 percent to 2.89 billion dollars. Netflix exceeded analysts' expectations with its figures. The streaming leader was particularly successful with earnings per share of 6.61 dollars. Market experts had expected an average of around 5.70 dollars per share.
Netflix's forecasts for the current quarter also exceeded analysts' expectations. At the same time, the Group left its outlook for the year as a whole unchanged - which is a sign of caution given the strong start to the year.Netflix's share price rose by more than four percent at times in after-hours trading.
It was the first quarter in which Netflix stopped reporting on the development of its customer base and instead focused on its finances. Netflix closed the previous year with 301.6 million customer households.
In the final quarter, in which the service showed two NFL football league games live for the first time at Christmas, among other things, almost 19 million customers were added.
In countries where Netflix offers a cheaper subscription with advertising, 55% of new customers opted for this in the final quarter of last year. And the number of customers in the advertising model rose by 30 percent within three months.
The advertising subscription helps Netflix to retain customers who may want to spend less money on streaming. After US President Donald Trump's round of tariffs, US consumers are more skeptical about the future. At the same time, however, the strategy also makes Netflix more dependent on the advertising business, which can suffer in times of a weak economy.