Skip to main content

Netflix's third quarter earnings blow through Wall Street's expectations (NFLX)

Ernesto S. Ruscio/Getty Images for Netflix

Netflix's third-quarter earnings crushed Wall Street's expectations, but the streaming media giant warned investors not to expect the same for the holidays.

The company posted a profit of 89 cents a share in its most recent period, it reported on Tuesday. That was a full 21 cents a share better than analysts polled by Bloomberg had forecast.

But it warned that its per-share earnings in the fourth quarter will be just 23 cents a share — less than half of what Wall Street had predicted. The company said its bottom line will be weighed down by having to recognize on its income statement the money it's invested in licensing and developing movies and shows, particularly its so-called Originals.

Investors focused on the bright side of the report. In recent after-hours trading, Netflix's stock was up $46.60, or 13.5%, to $393.00 a share.

Here's what Netflix reported, compared with analysts' forecasts:

  • Q3 Revenue: $4 billion. Analysts were expecting $4 billion also. In the same quarter last year, Netflix pulled in $2.98 billion in sales.
  • Q3 Earnings per share (GAAP): 89 cents. Wall Street was looking for 68 cents a share. In last year's third quarter, it earned 29 cents a share.
  • Q3 subscriber additions: 6.96 million. In the same period last year, Netflix added 5.3 million subscibers
  • Revenue, Q4 forecast: Netflix's projects it will post $4.2 billion. Prior to the report, analysts had predicted it would pull in $4.23 billion. In the fourth quarter last year, Netflix saw sales of $3.29 billion.
  • Earnings per share, Q4 forecast: The company expects 23 cents. Wall Street had projected it would earn 50.4 cents a share. In the same quarter last year, it posted a profit of 41 cents a share.
  • Subscriber additions, Q4 forecast: Netflix said it will add 9.4 million. In the holiday period last year, it added 8.33 million.

Netflix's stock closed regular trading Tuesday up $13.27 a share, or 4%, to $346.40.

Business Insider will be covering the Netflix Q3 results live so hit refresh or click here for the latest updates. 

NOW WATCH: Apple took another subtle jab at Facebook during its iPhone XS event

See Also:

SEE ALSO: Tech gets demolished: The 5 hottest tech stocks just lost $172 billion in market value

SEE ALSO: The future is bright for Netflix and bleak for basic cable — these 3 charts show why

SEE ALSO: Netflix's 1 million subscriber miss is exactly why it’s time for the company to stop hiding a critical part of its business

Data & News supplied by www.cloudquote.io
Stock quotes supplied by Barchart
Quotes delayed at least 20 minutes.
By accessing this page, you agree to the following
Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions.