Premature Demise? Netflix Reports Record Growth, Rising Revenues Despite Fan Backlash
It appears that reports of Netflix’s demise have been a tad bit premature.
The controversial streaming titan has experienced no shortage of issues and fan complaints of late, with two issues in particular sticking out as sore points.
Back in November, as CNBC notes, Netflix announced that it would be raising prices — rough news for anyone struggling to make ends meet in this economy.
In fact, given that economy, it actually makes total sense that pricing would be the top issue for subscribers.
After all, even your favorite show, assuming it’s on Netflix, isn’t worth being late on that electricity bill.
The other big issue is the ballyhooed crackdown on password-sharing.
Netflix made a big fuss about the issue in early 2023 and has since cracked down on users sharing their family or friends’ Netflix accounts (or vice versa).
So dire were those prospects that some writer — who sounds suspiciously like the author of the piece you’re reading right now — even opined that the crackdown on password-sharing could be the “final nail” in Netflix’s coffin.
(There are also other ideologically-driven issues with Netflix, but by definition, that would affect fewer people than broader issues like password sharing and pricing.)
Well, all that talk about Netflix’s pending demise was clearly way off the mark, if the streaming platform’s latest financial earnings report are to be believed.
Netflix released its fourth quarter 2023 earnings report on Tuesday and there’s just no other way to put this: The allegedly beleaguered streaming giant is thriving.
In fact, in a letter to shareholders, Netflix specifically bragged about the password-sharing restriction and price increase as reasons for why the company was doing so well.
“Revenue in Q4 grew 12% year over year, or 13% on a foreign exchange (F/X) neutral basis. Our healthy top line growth reflects the benefits of paid sharing, our recent price changes and the strength of our underlying business driven by a strong slate,” the company wrote in the letter.
As Reuters reported, Netflix’s quarterly earnings report “blew past Wall Street subscriber estimates.”
The key indication of Netflix’s health — and dominance?
The company added a whopping 13.1 million subscribers in the December quarter, a jump that Reuters calls Netflix’s “largest-ever fourth-quarter subscriber growth.”
The outlet added that the 13.1 million figure “handily” surpassed projected gains of 8.97 million.
“Netflix shares were up 8.3% in after-hours trading. The stock gained 65% during 2023,” Reuters noted.
Media analyst Jessica Reif Ehrlich drew one simple conclusion from these numbers.
“It is becoming increasingly clear that Netflix has won the ‘streaming wars,'” Ehrlich told Reuters.
With Netflix only set to grow after adding WWE to its programming lineup (for a cool $5 billion, no less) it appears that the undisputed champion of streaming services will hold onto that title belt for the foreseeable future.
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