Netflix’s most recent earnings report was impressive, to say the least. Not only did revenue jump by an astounding 43%, the streaming giant was able to add 7.4 million new subscribers during the March quarter alone, easily besting the most optimistic of projections from Wall Street analysts. Consequently, Netflix shares immediately shot up and the stock is now 25% higher than it was three months ago.
Thanks to the company’s unparalleled obsession with churning out original content, Netflix has seen its subscriber base rise dramatically over the past few years. According to the most recent figures, Netflix’s worldwide subscriber base now stands at 125 million. As a point of reference, Netflix at the end of 2014 had 57.4 million subscribers.
As impressive as Netflix’s subscriber growth has been over the past few years, the company has a lot more room to grow according to a new investor note from Bank of America Merrill Lynch analyst Nat Schindler.
In remarks picked up by CNBC, Schindler believes that Netflix’s subscriber base has the potential to swell to 360 million users by 2030.
“We believe Netflix still has a considerable opportunity ahead if it can achieve reasonable penetration levels internationally,” Schindler said. “Netflix will face varying levels of competition, regulation and economic conditions in each individual market it participates in, but its content scale should allow it to become the dominant streaming player in virtually all markets.”
To be fair, the idea of making a prediction about the tech space 12 years out seems rather foolish. After all, 12 years in the tech world is nothing short of an eternity. As a prime example, the first iPhone was still in development 12 years ago and the original Tesla Roadster hadn’t even been unveiled yet. Still, the larger takeaway here is that Netflix, despite the tremendous success it has enjoyed already, still has plenty of room left to grow.
