Netflix records highest subscriber growth in 16 years; streaming giant adds 7.4 mn users in 2018 quarter 1

The streaming giant Netflix added another 7.4 million subscribers in the first quarter of 2018, a 50 percent increase when compared to last year, taking their subscriber base to an impressive 125 million, as reported by Variety. [caption id=“attachment_4429093” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  Netflix’s logo/Image from Twitter.[/caption] The news sent Netflix stocks rising by 6 percent on the Wall Street, and the company with a reported revenue of $3.7 billion in revenue for the same profit, shored up profits totaling $290 million, at the rate of 67 cents per share. The impressive numbers have been credited to Netflix’s overseas growth, with a majority of the new subscribers, nearly 5.5 million coming from outside the United States. “We’ve outperformed the business in a way we didn’t predict. The business has grown faster than we expected,” said David Wells, Chief Financial Officer, Netflix, as reported by CNN. The company, which spends a fortune on creating original content, reported to be valued up to $8 billion, expects to have 700 programs available to its customers, which will include 18 original series launches, 11 new seasons for existing original series, and 14 original movies, as reported by CNN. Netflix is expected to outperform in the next quarter as well, with another 6.2 million global net additions, of which 1.2 million from the USA and 5 million will come from international markets. With the company posting its strongest subscriber growth in 16 years, despite raising prices for its streaming service, Netflix is now well placed to invest more in its own original programming, as it no longer runs the risk of losing customers. “You have to earn it by doing spectacular content. If you do that, you can get people to pay more because then we can invest,” said Reed Hastings, Chief Executive Officer, Netflix,  as reported by Bloomberg.