Right on par with Wall Street estimates, the streaming giant also garnered nearly 9 million new paid subscribers. However the generation of ad revenues continues to be a challenge.
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) -Streaming pioneer Netflix showed resilience by gaining more quarterly subscribers than in the past three years despite strikes by Hollywood's writers and actors, sending its shares up 13.5% in premarket trading on Thursday. Netflix capitalized on its heft in global production, as well as the economic hardships of its media rivals, to amass 247 million subscribers in the third quarter, a gain of nearly 9 million over the last three months. "The management deserves an Emmy for managing investor expectations," Bernstein analysts wrote in a note, adding that paid-sharing has opened up a bigger-than-expected market of potential subscribers for Netflix.
Netflix shares jump as results show resilience despite Hollywood strikes reuters.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from reuters.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
U.S. based-broadcast networks during the recent Hollywood strikes were forced to fill their fall lineups with repeats and reality shows. Rival streaming services had to delay new releases and had less foreign-language programming to offer than Netflix, which has production capabilities in more than 50 countries and languages.
Netflix shares rose to $396.20, putting them on course for the biggest one-day percentage gain in nearly three years, with the company on track to add more than $22 billion to its market capitalization.