Netflix reported its earnings for Q4 2013, and stock is surging 17% in after-hours trading, beating analysts expectations.
Here are the results for Q4:
Revenue: $1.18 billion
EPS: $0.79
Subscriber adds: 2.33 million
Analyst Q4 predictions for Netflix were $1.17 billion in revenue, $0.66 earnings per share, and 2 million new subscribers for the last half of 2013, but Netflix ended up defying most expectations.
International growth had slowed during the last half of 2013 and was a big concern for analysts, but Netflix wrote in its letter to shareholders that it plans a significant expansion overseas this year.
Netflix is continuing its investment with original content. The second seasons of "House Of Cards" and "Orange is the New Black" will come out in winter and summer 2014, respectively. A new original animated series for adults called "BoJack Horseman" is on its way, and it will exclusively premiere episodes of "Better Call Saul" in foreign territories but make U.S. customers wait for it to finish airing on AMC. Also, 2015 will see "The Daredevil" pop up, which is the first show from the partnership between Netflix and Marvel TV.
In an earnings call, CEO Reed Hastings says Netflix is less driven for mobile experiences. The focus is on tablets and larger screens. The 2014 Winter Olympics may hamper the success of "House of Card's" second season, since most viewers will be tuning in to the various competitions on live TV.
Currently, the company is testing single-stream and triple-stream options, as well as high-def and standard-definition streamings. Hastings explained that the $6.99 single-stream plan that was introduced at the end of 2013 is still an experiment, and the company hopes to eventually introduce three simple options meant for everyone.
The company ended the year with over 44 million members. Here are Netflix's predictions for the first quarter of this year:
