Netflix on Monday beat Wall Street expectations in terms of financials despite coming up short in the subscription department. The Los Gatos-based company raked in revenue of $2.64 billion in the first quarter with a net income of $178 million, or $0.40 per share - more than six times the profit it generated during the same period a year ago.
Netflix added 1.42 million subscribers in the US versus analyst expectations of 1.56 million. Internationally, the streaming video titan brought in 3.53 million new subscribers for the quarter ending March 31 compared to the 3.71 million additions expected.
All said and done, Netflix finished the quarter with 98.75 million subscribers.
In its letter to shareholders, Netflix said its year-over-year streaming revenue growth is benefiting from a price change in mid-2016 and will moderate over the course of the year to track membership growth more closely. The company added that it is seeing a small but steady migration to their four-stream, 4K-UHD HDR video quality tier (their high-end plan) which will keep revenue growth slightly above membership growth.
Looking ahead, Netflix said it expects to generate $2.76 billion in revenue in the second quarter. During the same period, the company anticipates adding 600,000 new US-based subscribers and 2.6 million international newcomers which would push its total subscriber base past the 100 million mark.