Netflix grows to 69 million members

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters had projected earnings of eight cents a share and revenue of $1.75 billion.

The video streaming provider added 3.62 million subscribers during the third quarter, bringing its total to 69.17 million, compared to last year’s growth of 3.02 million adds during the third quarter.

Netflix announced its Q3 2015 earnings this afternoon, and despite predictions from market analysts, earnings and subscriber number predictions missed the mark. Did Netflix just raise the standard rate for consumers by $1 because the service is so popular – or because it had to in order to cover rising programming costs?

Netflix executives, believe that “linear networks that embrace on demand and Internet delivery as we have, will become more valuable and will experience renewed growth”, the letter said. The inability to collect payment from a few customers “was driven in part by the ongoing transition to chip-based credit and debit cards”, he said.

Netflix (NFLX) shares fell 13% in after-hours trading to $95.89 after closing Wednesday at $110.58, up 0.46%.

Nevertheless, Netflix appears to be determined to pull more subscribers into its streaming service by tapping another staple, news programming, Variety noted. Earnings per share came in at 7 cents.

Netflix reported disappointing subscriber growth in the United States and saw its profit fall amid higher costs for content and expansion. The shares slumped as much as 11 percent, and the stocks of hospital chains Community Health Systems Inc. and Tenet Healthcare Corp. also tumbled. Last week, it raised the price of its plan allowing two simultaneous streams to $9.99 a month in the USA, Canada and Latin America, a $1 increase, mirroring a similar increase in Europe over the summer. The company still made $29.43 million in its last quarter (against a forecast of $31 million), but that figure is considerably less than the $59.29 million it made in the same period in 2014. “We expect to finish 2015 at about 2014 levels”.

The firm said revenue rose to $1.74bn (£1.1bn) from $1.41bn a year earlier.