Bombshell Netflix results delight Wall St

Netflix reversed a drop in customer base and beat Wall Street’s expectations in its third quarter results.

The streaming platform said last night it brought in 2.4 million customers between July and September, more than double analysts’ forecasts.

Netflix hopes its cheaper ad subscription option will help attract new members after the end of lockdowns and the cost of living crisis caused a sharp drop in subscribers.

But even before this plan launched in November, customers flocked to Netflix when the global total reached 223.1 million.

The US company, which has distributed hits like Blonde, made £7 billion in sales for the quarter, up 6 percent from the same year.

And it has forecast to increase its customer base by 4.5 million for the full year.

In its letter to shareholders, Netflix said, “Our competitors are investing heavily to drive subscribers and engagement, but building a large, successful streaming company is difficult.”

In the UK, Netflix accounts for 8.2 percent of video playback, more than double that of Amazon Prime and Disney+.

Shares rose 14 percent in after-hours trading in New York, though they had fallen nearly 60 percent earlier this year.