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Netflix added a record 19 million subscribers in the fourth quarter as viewers flocked to stream the new installment of the series Squid game And live sporting events including a very exciting boxing match between Mike Tyson and Jake Paul.
Increase means Netflix It had a total of 301 million subscribers at the end of 2024, up 15 percent from the previous year and higher than the 293 million Wall Street had expected. Its shares rose more than 13 percent in after-hours trading.
Netflix said it will raise prices in the US, Canada, Portugal and Argentina. The most popular US plan will rise by $2.50 per month to $17.99, while the cheapest US ad-supported tier will rise by $1 to $7.99 per month.
“Netflix is now flexing its muscles by adjusting prices given its strong and diverse programming list compared to competitors,” said Paolo Pescatore, an analyst at PP Foresight.
the My neighbor Pioneer made a big boost in live sporting events in the fourth quarter, as the boxing match between Tyson and Paul attracted 65 million viewers worldwide. On Christmas Day, it aired two National Football League games, one of which featured Beyoncé at halftime, which reached 24 million viewers each. Netflix also debuted the second season of Squid gameWhich achieved a record number of 68 million views in its first week.
“We enter 2025 with strong momentum, and exit the year with record net (subscriber) additions and accelerating growth,” the company wrote in a letter to shareholders.
She added that although the company remains “intensely competitive,” it does not suffer from the “distractions” of having to manage the decline of television networks that its traditional Hollywood studio competitors are dealing with.
Revenue reached $10.2 billion in the fourth quarter, and the company raised its revenue guidance for the year by $500 million, up 14 percent from 2024. Earnings per share more than doubled to $4.27 from $2.11 last year, and operating income exceeded $2 billion, an increase of 52 percent.
This is the last time Netflix will announce its quarterly subscriber numbers, which investors have closely watched for years. But she said she would continue to publish numbers “as we pass key milestones.”
Its subscriber base has soared since launching a crackdown on password sharing in May 2023, sending shares up more than 80 percent in 2024. But the stock has had a bumpy start in 2025.
Wall Street is bracing for a slowdown in subscription growth as the initial push from the initiative wanes. But Netflix is betting big on live events to attract new subscribers, and this month launched its own weekly broadcast of WWE Raw — as part of a 10-year deal with the wrestling entertainment group.
Executives said live events will help deliver the audiences advertisers crave. The advertising business has had a volatile start since its launch in the fall of 2022, given the sector's weakness.
“The top priority in 2025 is to improve our offerings to advertisers so that we can significantly increase our advertising revenues,” she said in her shareholder letter.
