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Shares of Netflix surged by over 14%, reaching $993 in after-hours trading following the company’s announcement on Tuesday that it had added approximately 19 million new subscribers during the holiday season. As a result, Netflix finished 2024 with over 300 million subscribers, marking its highest number ever and surpassing the previous record of 15 million new subscribers set in Q1 2020, a period driven by the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Throughout the past year, Netflix's stock rose by more than 77%, outpacing the S&P 500 index, which saw a 24% increase.
The company attributed this impressive growth to its continued investments in content, alongside price hikes in several countries, including Argentina, Canada, Portugal, and the United States. In a statement to investors, Netflix explained, "As we continue investing in programming and delivering more value to our subscribers, we may occasionally ask them to pay more to enable us to reinvest that money to improve the Netflix experience."
In the U.S., prices for standard and premium subscriptions increased by $2, bringing the cost of the standard plan to $18 and the premium plan to $25. The ad-supported tier also saw a price hike of $1, now priced at $8 per month.
For the fourth quarter of 2024, Netflix reported net earnings of $1.87 billion, reflecting a 100% increase from the $938 million in profits recorded during the same period in 2023.