Netflix Beats Expectations, Adds 4.4M New Subscribers in Q3

Netflix reported solid third quarter results on Tuesday, with subscriber growth and earnings beating expectations thanks to a substantial boost from popular new content as the streaming giant looks to assert its lead over rival platforms.

A new report from CNBC explains that Netflix added 4.4 million new subscribers in the third quarter of 2021 for a total of 214 million paid subscribers, topping the company’s modest projections set last quarter for a net subscriber add of 3.5 million.

The streamer’s revenue also rose 16 percent to $7.48 billion USD in the third quarter, compared with a year earlier. Net income was $1.45 billion USD, up from $790 million a year earlier, and easily surpassed analyst estimates.

The company has ramped up production, rebounding from pandemic-induced delays in the first half of the year. It’s also looking beyond movies and TV and said it plans to fund “new growth opportunities” such as video games, which are being tested in some markets.

The company said it expects to add 8.5 million subscribers in the fourth quarter.

“We’re in uncharted territory,” Netflix co-CEO Reed Hastings said. “We have so much content coming in Q4 like we’ve never had, so we’ll have to feel our way through and it rolls into a great next year also.”

In the US and Canada, Netflix reported a net gain of 70,000 subscribers for Q3, essentially flat quarter-over-quarter.