Netflix exceeds expectations again

The US streaming service Netflix once again exceeded expectations in the third quarter despite a highly competitive market: The number of subscribers increased by 5.1 million to a total of 282.7 million by the end of September as the Los Gatos, California-based company announced on Thursday. The bottom line was that the company recorded one Profit of 2.36 billion dollars (2.18 billion euros).

Netflix is ​​facing increasingly tough competition. Direct competitors with paid streaming platforms such as Disney+ are also investing heavily. But free offers also claim considerable market share. YouTube, for example, has more viewers in the USA than Netflix.

In this environment, Netflix’s business and user numbers developed noticeably worse towards the end of the corona pandemic. The streaming service responded by restricting multiple households from sharing an account. The streaming service also introduced cheaper subscription options in some countries that include advertising.

And the calculation worked out: Instead of turning away from Netflix, more users began taking out their own subscriptions. However, growth has now slowed. In the last two quarters there were rates of over 16 percent compared to the respective quarter of the previous year. At the end of the third quarter, the service had 14.5 percent more users than a year earlier. Sales rose 15 percent to $9.82 billion.

The company management expects good development towards the end of the year, among other things because the release of a second season of the successful series “Squid Game” is imminent. The dystopian story from South Korea about a fictional, deadly game show is by far the most-watched Netflix television series of all time. A number of live broadcasts are also planned, including a boxing match between Mike Tyson and Jake Paul and a series of American football games at Christmas.

Netflix said the average time spent on its platform increased to about two hours per day per member in the third quarter. Well-watched series included “A New Summer” (original title: “The Perfect Couple”) and “Emily in Paris”. The action comedy “Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F.” with Eddy Murphy was also one of the hits. Netflix offers with advertising increased subscribers by an above-average 35 percent.