Netflix reaches 282 million subscribers worldwide

Netflix gained 5.1 million paying subscribers worldwide in the third quarter of 2024, reaching 282.72 million. This represents growth of more than 14% year-on-year.

The industry-leading streamer's subscriber and financial results exceeded analyst estimates in all key metrics in the third quarter.

Wall Street forecast earnings per share (EPS) of $5.12 on revenue of $9.77 billion for the July-September quarter, according to analyst consensus data from LSEG, formerly Refinitiv. Netflix reported adjusted earnings per share of $5.40, net income of $2.4 billion and revenue of $9.83 billion.

Sales increased 15% compared to the third quarter of 2023. Free cash flow was $2.2 billion.

Although Netflix did not announce a price increase in the United States, as many industry analysts had expected, the company noted in its earnings filings recent price increases in some countries in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, as well as Japan, and will increase its tariff in Spain and Italy Friday. Additionally, the streamer announced that it will phase out its “Basic” tiered plan in Brazil in the fourth quarter, after phasing out the offering in the U.S. and France in the third quarter.

In a letter to shareholders accompanying Thursday's results, Netflix updated investors on the growth of its young ad-supported product: “Our advertising plan allows us to offer consumers a lower price that is proving popular: made in the third quarter over 50% of registrations in our advertising countries and membership in our advertising plan grew by 35% compared to the previous quarter. We are on track to reach what we believe will be a critical number of advertisers in all of our advertising countries in 2025, creating a strong base from which we can continue to grow our advertising membership in 2026 and beyond. We are also pleased with the engagement on our ad plan as the viewing hours per membership are similar to the engagement on our standard plan across our 12 ad countries.”

Last quarter, Netflix added 8.05 million net subscribers, increasing its global base to 277.65 million in the second quarter. For the second quarter, which runs from April to June, the company reported revenue of $9.56 billion (up 17%) and net income of $2.15 billion, up from $1.49 billion last year), which corresponds to earnings per share of $4.88.

Looking ahead, Netflix forecast fourth-quarter revenue of $10.1 billion with earnings per share of $4.23, or a profit of $1.8 billion. The streamer no longer offers forecasts for its subscriber numbers for the coming quarters.