Thanks to a growing library of original content and a wide selection of popular TV shows and movies, Netflix’s popularity continues to skyrocket across the globe. The streaming video giant released its Q4 2015 earnings results this afternoon and delighted investors with higher than anticipated earnings per share and, more importantly, impressive subscriber growth.
On the financial side, Netflix posted $1.82 billion in revenue and $43.2 million in profits. By way of contrast, Netflix during the same quarter a year-ago posted revenue of $1.48 billion and profits of $83.4 million. As for the year over year decline in profits, that can largely be attributed to licensing costs and bankrolling a growing number of original shows. In fact, Netflix earlier this week said that it plans to spend a whopping $6 billion on content in 2016 alone, a figure which far eclipses what other companies like HBO plan to spend over the next 12 months.
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Earnings aside, it was Netflix’s incredible subscriber growth that really impressed. Today, Netflix boasts more than 75 million subscribers across 190 countries. During the last three months of 2015 alone, Netflix added 5.59 million new subscribers, setting a quarterly record in the process. Broken down across geographic regions, 1.56 million of those subscribers came from the United States while 4.04 million originated overseas. Indeed, Netflix’s international expansion is what really has Wall St. bullish on the company.
Just recently, Netflix opened up for business in 130 new countries, including sizable markets like Russia and India. As a result, the company anticipates that it will attract 6 million new subscribers during the first quarter of 2016.
“We think we’ll grow by over 6 million members in Q1 given our expansion of Netflix to virtually everywhere but China,” Netflix CEO Reed Hastings said in a press release.
