The latest major player in live sports streaming is beating Wall Street expectations once again.
Just hours after announcing a landmark $5 billion-plus deal with WWE, Netflix said it has reached 260.28 million subscribers, expanding its status as the world’s largest streaming platform.
Up from 247 million subscribers a quarter ago, Netflix’s latest quarterly results showed a 12.5% bump in revenue to $8.8 billion and $938 million in net income, up from $55 million in the prior-year period. What’s more, Netflix also is projecting even larger growth rates in both revenue and net income in 2024’s first quarter—forecasts that sent the company stock up more than 8% in after-hours trading.
“We believe we have a lot more room to grow,” the company said in a letter to shareholders late Tuesday.
Sports figure to be an increasing part of that pursuit of growth. During the most recent quarter, Netflix expanded its live presence with its in-house golf tournament, The Netflix Cup, and solidified plans for a similar tennis tournament, The Netflix Slam, that will be held in March. Its already-well-established documentary presence is now being burnished with upcoming NASCAR and NBA projects.
And now the company is making its biggest step yet in both sports and live content overall with the addition of WWE, something that Netflix called “great sports entertainment with a huge, established, and passionate fanbase,” adding: “We believe this long-term partnership will be a big value add for our members.”
