Netflix has just reported its biggest quarter ever - on the back of its ongoing password-sharing crackdown and punters absorbing price rises that ran beyond inflation. 

The streaming giant added 9.3 million subscribers for a total 270 million worldwide (a figure was not broken out for NZ). 

“With more than two people per household on average, we have an audience of over half a billion people,” the company said in a letter to shareholders. 

The streamer also revealed viewing numbers for some of its biggest films and series - including the sci-fi hit 3 Body Problem starring New Zealand actress Jess Hong (complete with an unreconstructed Kiwi accent). 

• Damsel (with Millie Bobby Brown): 123.9 million views 
• Lift (Kevin Hart): 113.0m 
• Society of the Snow: 98.5m 
• Fool Me Once: 98.2 million views 
• Griselda: 66.4m 
• Avatar: The Last Airbender: 63.8m 
• The Gentlemen: 61.0m 
• American Nightmare: 50.2m 
• 3 Body Problem: 39.7m 
• One Day: 36.0m 
• The Greatest Night in Pop: 23.6m 
• Love is Blind S6: 20.0m 
• Ricky Gervais: Armageddon: 12.7m 

The performance announced on Thursday demonstrated that Netflix is still building on its momentum of last year, when a crackdown on free-loading viewers relying on shared passwords and the rollout of a low-priced option including commercials revived its growth following a post-pandemic lull. 

The strategy resulted in Netflix adding 30 million subscribers last year — the second-largest annual increase in the service’s history. 

In an investor presentation, Netflix said it had an 8.1 per cent share of TV viewing in the US. The figure, sourced from Nielsen, excluded mobiles and other devices.

Netflix’s gains during the January-March period more than quadrupled the 1.8 million subscribers the video streaming service added at the same time last year, and was nearly three times more than analysts had projected. The Los Gatos, California, company ended March with nearly 270 million worldwide subscribers, including about 83 million in its biggest market covering the US and Canada. 

Investors increasingly are viewing Netflix as the clear-cut winner in a fierce streaming battle that includes Apple, Amazon, Walt Disney Co and Warner Bros Discovery. 

But Netflix surprised investors by disclosing in a shareholder letter it will stop providing quarterly updates about its subscriber totals beginning next year, a move that will make it more difficult to track the video streaming service’s growth — or contraction. The company has regularly posted its quarterly subscriber totals since going public 22 years ago. 

Netflix’s shares dipped more than 3 per cent in extended trading, despite the strong financial showing. 

The renewed subscriber growth has been coupled with a sharper focus on boosting profit and revenue — an emphasis that has led management to be more judicious about spending on original programming and regularly raising subscription prices. 

It’s a formula that helped Netflix earn US$2.33 billion (NZ$3.97b), or US$5.28 per share, in the most recent quarter, a 79 per cent increase from the same time last year. 

Revenue rose 15 per cent from a year ago to US$9.37b. Analysts polled by FactSet had projected earnings of US$4.52 per share on revenue of US$9.27b. 

Advertising sales still play a small role in Netflix’s finances, BMO Capital Markets analyst Brian Pitz projecting the company will bring in about US$1.5b from commercials streamed on its service this year, while foreseeing years of steady growth ahead. 

With reporting by AP. 

This story was originally published on the Herald, here