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Netflix numbers impress market

April 16, 2015

By any measure the Q1/2015 financial numbers released by OTT operator Netflix this week impressed the market.  Each and every metric managed to beat the market’s consensus expectations.

Some examples: The market was expecting 4.1 million new subscribers. Netflix delivered 4.9 million. The split was also impressive with International growth (2.6 million) beating the USA’s 2.3 million – and this is ahead of new expansion into markets that are only now beginning to kick in.

The totals confirm the amazing gains of the past few trading quarters, and propel Netflix into the ‘Super League’ of pay-TV operators globally. They now have 62.3 million global subs, of which the international markets are delivering 20.9 million (up a staggering 64.6 percent y-o-y).

The hard dollars received also beat expectations. Netflix’s consolidated revenues were up 24 percent to $1.6 billion while total streaming revenues for the quarter-year were $1.4 billion (up 31 percent).

These core numbers, plus guidance that Netflix anticipates another 600,000 regular subscribers to be added in the US this year, and 1.9 million for its international services, helped drive the share price up 12.7 percent in after-hours trading.

CEO Reed Hastings told analysts that the current share price (today likely move to more than $500 a share) would probably mean a stock split in order to make its shares more accessable.

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