what Netflix rebounds from recent subscriber losses with 3Q gain

The Los Gatos, California, company disclosed Tuesday that it picked up 2.4 million subscribers during the July-September period, a comeback from a loss of 1.2 million customers during the first half of the year amid stiffer competition and soaring inflation that’s squeezing household budgets. Netflix now boasts 223 million subscribers, enabling the company to at least temporarily reclaim the mantle as the world’s largest video streaming service. Walt Disney Co. eclipsed Netflix in August when it reported its service had 221 million subscribers, a number that will be updated Nov. 8 when Disney is scheduled to report its summer results. “Thank God, we are done with shrinking quarters,” Netflix co-CEO Reed Hastings exclaimed in a video conference call Tuesday. “We are back to positivity.” The uptick in subscribers also helped Netflix earn $1.4 billion, or $3.10 per share, a 4% dip from the same time last year. Revenue climbed 6% from last year to $7.93 billion. The subscriber gains, earnings per share and revenue all topped analyst projections compiled by Factset. Netflix’s shares surged by about 14% after the latest numbers came out. Even so, the stock has still lost more than half its value so far this year, reflecting worries that Netflix’s best days have passed. Now that Netflix is growing again, it will be aiming to accelerate the momentum with its first ad-supported plan that debuts in the U.S. and 11 other markets in early November. The new option will cost $7 per month in the U.S., less than half the price for Netflix’s most popular $15.50-per-month plan without commercial interruptions. “Netflix still has a lot of room to grow and capture the share in a price-sensitive market,” Investing.com analyst said in a sign of renewed optimism about the company’s prospects. Netflix is expecting to bring in even more subscribers early next year when it begins to crack down on rampant password-sharing that has allowed millions of people service for free. As a prelude to forcing a market segment that the company has labeled as “borrowers,” Netflix on Monday unveiled a new feature called Profile Transfer hat will allow viewers to export their customized recommendations and personal histories to a new account. Netflix plans to crack down on password sharing beginning in 2023. After giving users the ability to transfer their profiles to new accounts, the streamer says it will start letting subscribers create starting  in line with its plans to “monetize account sharing” more widely. This is part of Netflix’s earning results today, which says the company added 2.4 million subscribers this quarter as the streaming service looks to launch its ad-supported tier next month and clamp down on password sharing. The streamer says it has grown by 104,000 paid subscribers in the US and Canada over the last three months, up from 73,000 in the same period last year, and says it remains committed to the “bingeable release model.” Earlier this year, Netflix reported losing subscribers for the first time in over 10 years, with the company’s subscriber count dipping by another 1.3 million in the US and Canada and 1 million worldwide last quarter. To remedy this, Netflix has also been slowly nudging subscribers away from password sharing. The company conducted tests that prompted users in Chile, Costa Rica, and Peru to pay extra for if Netflix detected someone was using the owner’s subscription of their household.