Netflix Q4 Earnings Highlights: Revenue Beat, 13.12 Million Net Paid Subscribers, Q1 Guidance And More

Streaming giant Netflix Inc NFLX reported fourt- quarter financial results after the market close Tuesday.

Here are the key highlights.

What Happened: Netflix reported fourth-quarter revenue of $8.83 billion, which was up 12.5% year-over-year. The total came in ahead of a Street consensus estimate of $8.72 billion, according to data from Benzinga Pro.

The company reported fourth-quarter earnings per share of $2.11, which missed a Street consensus estimate of $2.21.

Netflix ended the fourth quarter with 260.28 million global paid members, which was up 12.8% year-over-year. The company added 13.12 million net paid subscribers in the fourth quarter.

Related Link: Trading Strategies For Netflix Stock Before And After Q4 Earnings

What's Next: The company said it will continue to invest and build out its ad-supported platform, which it said is not a "primary driver" of revenue growth as of now.

"Our aim is to make ads a more substantial revenue stream that contribute to sustained, healthy revenue growth in 2025 and beyond."

The company is forecasting paid net additions to be down sequentially in the first quarter, but up versus 1.8 million paid net adds in the first quarter of fiscal 2023.

Netflix guided to first-quarter revenue of $9.24 billion, representing an increase of 13.2% year-over-year. The revenue guidance comes in shy of a $9.3-billion estimate from analysts, according to data from Benzinga Pro.

Earnings per share are guided to be $4.49 in the first quarter, which is ahead of a Street estimate of $4.10.

Netflix raised its fiscal 2024 operating margin forecast from a prior range of 22% to 23% to a new target of 24%.

The company said streaming can be a healthy business and expects more consolidation to follow in the media sector.

"We're not interested in acquiring linear assets. Nor do we believe that further M&A among traditional entertainment companies will materially change the competitive environment," according to Netflix.

Netflix said it sees opportunities to increase the value for members with games, live and sports-adjacent programming and other offerings.

"We believe there is plenty of room for growth ahead as streaming expands, and our north star remains the same: to thrill members with our entertainment. If we can continue to improve Netflix faster than the competition, we'll have an increasingly valuable business – for consumers, creators and shareholders."

NFLX Price Action: Netflix shares were trading 6.38% higher to $523.57 in after-hours trading versus a 52-week trading range of $285.33 to $503.41. Netflix shares were up 38% over the last year prior to the after-hours move.

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