by Luzi Ann Santos | moomoo News

$Netflix (NFLX.US)$ shares climbed 7.4% after the market closed, as the tech giant reported an almost 13% jump in global streaming paid membership in the fourth quarter, resulting in better-than-expected revenue for the period.

The company reported fourth-quarter revenue of $8.83 billion, higher than the $8.71 billion expected by analysts. Earnings came in at $2.11 a share. The company added 13.1 million subscribers in the fourth quarter to 260.28 million.

The growth in paid subscribers accelerated from 10.8% in the third quarter, Netflix earnings release showed.

Netflix sees first quarter revenue growth of 13% including a 3-percentage point headwind from foreign exchange, primarily driven by the large decline of the Argentine peso against the US dollar, the company said.

It expects earnings per share to reach $4.49 in the first quarter, with net income seen reaching $1.98 billion, up from $1.31 billion a year earlier. Operating margin is expected to accelerate to 26.2% in the first quarter, up from 21% a year earlier.  

The company forecasts double-digit revenue growth for the full year 2024 driven in part by continued membership growth, as it adjusts prices.

"We’ll also continue to invest in and build our ads business; we expect strong growth in 2024 but off a small base so it’s not yet a primary driver of our overall revenue growth," it said. "Our aim is to make ads a more substantial revenue stream that contributes to sustained, healthy revenue growth in 2025 and beyond."