James Delahunty
23 Apr 2009 20:30
Netflix has beaten its own earnings forecast after announcing a 68 percent rise in profits in the first quarter. The results are due to the company attracting many more customers than it had expected to. Netflix' net income rose 68 percent to $22.4 million, or 37c per share, from $13.3 million, or 21c, in the same period from the previous year, as sales rose 21 percent to $394.1 million and subscribers jumped 25 percent to 10.31 million.
In the last year, Netflix has brought its movie streaming service to Microsoft's Xbox 360 console, LG and Samsung Blu-ray players and TiVo digital video recorders. "First-quarter results showed strong momentum driven by consumer attraction to our unlimited rental proposition," Netflix CEO Reed Hastings said in the statement.
Netflix estimates that subscribers for its DVD-delivery service will peak between 2013 and 2018. It has a digital inventory of over 12,000 titles so far.