Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) has posted impressive quarterly subscriber growth numbers that beat Wall Street estimates thanks to the popularity of its hit show "Squid Game."
The company added 4.38 million subscribers in the third quarter, according to its latest earnings report, exceeding forecasts of 3.72 million new subscribers. Netflix expects to sign up 8.5 million customers in the final three months of 2021, compared with Wall Street estimates of 8.32 million.
September’s busy program slate changed the course of the year for Netflix. The service added just 5.5 million customers in the first six months of 2021, the least since 2013. Analysts had worried the slowdown would drag on after July and August passed without the return of popular shows. But new seasons of "La Casa de Papel" and "Sex Education," as well as "Squid Game," a show about a deadly contest, brought in millions of new customers.
About 142 million households around the world started watching "Squid Game," making it the most-viewed new show in Netflix’s history. The company is on pace to add more than 18 million customers this year, though that’s the least since 2016.
Netflix has a big slate of films with big names arriving in the next couple months, including "Red Notice," starring Dwayne Johnson and Ryan Reynolds, and "The Power of the Dog," featuring Benedict Cumberbatch and Kirsten Dunst.
Shares of Netflix were down slightly in extended trading after the results were announced. The stock has been rising lately as investors’ hopes for faster growth took hold, rising 34% from its 2021 low in May.
