Netflix adds 4.4m new subscribers in Q3 2021

Netflix added 4.4m new subscribers in Q3 2021 for a total of 214m paid subscribers, topping the company’s projections set last quarter for a net subscriber add of 3.5m.

Net income during the period reached more than $1.4bn, nearly $659m more than the same period last year. The company posted a 16.3% increase in revenue in the July-September period from a year ago to almost $7.5bn. Its operating income jumped 33% on the same period last year to $1.8bn.

Analysts, on average, were expecting earnings of $2.56 per share on revenue of $7.48bn, according to a poll by FactSet.

In recent weeks, Netflix has benefited from the success of Squid Game, the South Korean dystopian drama that made its debut on September 17 and quickly became a global phenomenon.

The company has ramped up production, rebounding from pandemic-induced delays in the first half of the year. It’s also looking beyond movies and TV and said it plans to fund “new growth opportunities” such as video games, which are being tested in some markets.

“It remains very early days for this initiative and, like other content categories we’ve expanded into, we plan to try different types of games, learn from our members and improve our game library,” the company said.

And as it faces saturation in the US market, Netflix is focusing on growing its international subscriber numbers. For instance, it launched a free mobile plan in Kenya, in the hopes it will get more people in the country to sign up for paid memberships.

Netflix also said that later this year it will change how it reports its viewership metrics. Instead of how many accounts watch its titles, it will report the number of hours viewed. Netflix said this is a “’slightly better indicator of the overall success of our titles and member satisfaction.”

“It also matches how outside services measure TV viewing and gives proper credit to rewatching,” Netflix said.

For the current quarter, Netflix said it expects to add 8.5m net subscribers.