Continuing their push for more global subscribers, Netflix’s financial results for Q1 2015 have shown it’s on the right track with a record 62m subscribers, but a strong dollar is costing the company internationally.
Beating its original forecast last January, Netflix has stated that its subscriber numbers rose by as much as 2.28m in Q1 in the US alone, while its international subscriber numbers rose by 2.6m during the same period, but its strong sales growth of 24pc to US$1.57bn was on a par with what the market analysts had predicted.
According to Yahoo!, its exponential growth has seen its stock rise with it, by 12pc to US$534.07, an all-time high, following the announcement of the streaming company’s results.
The company is in the midst of a major promotional campaign, having recently returned the ever-popular House of Cards to people’s TV screens and devices, while new shows like Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt and Daredevil are drawing in a greater numbers of subscribers.
However, in terms of revenue, the company is finding itself in a less postive position. Netflix posted revenues of US$23.7m, which is almost half of what it earned at the same time last year, when it posted revenues of US$53.1m.
This, the company said, is down to the dollar being in a strong position currently, which contributed to a US$15m loss internationally where the company is trying to push its service out to as many countries as possible.
Going by its business plan, Netflix is aiming to offer the service on a worldwide scale by the end of next year, with expectations of more than tripling its subscriber base to 87m by 2020, but the company’s CEO, Reed Hastings, was not able to confirm whether China will be included in its rollout.
“On China, we’re just still learning about how best to approach it; we’re not sure,” Hastings said.
Netflix advertising board image via Shutterstock
