Netflix memberships climbs above 277M

Netflix saw its net income and revenue increase in the second quarter of the year, while total membership climbed above 277 million, according to its financial results statement released Thursday.

Net income rose to almost $2.15 billion, up 44.3% from $1.49 billion in the second quarter of last year. Revenue increased 16.7% to $9.56 billion from $8.19 billion during that period.

The number of paid memberships reached more than 277.6 million in the April-June period, up 16.4%, or over 39 million, from 238.4 million a year earlier. Total subscriptions surpassed the 200-million mark in the last quarter of 2020.

Total streaming paid memberships globally were up eight million from the previous quarter of 269.6 million in the January-March period.

The world's largest movie and series streaming subscription service meanwhile said that its ad-supported memberships increased 34% in the second quarter.

"Ads fulfill two important strategic priorities for Netflix: first they enable us to offer lower prices to consumers; and second, they create an additional revenue and profit stream for the business," said the statement.

While the company had phased out its ad-free Basic plan in the UK and Canada earlier this year, it will now begin doing so in the US and France, according to the statement.

Instead of the $11.99 ad-free plan, the ad-supported plan that costs $6.99 per month will be offered in the US with two streams, high definition and downloads, it added.

Netflix said its ad revenue is "growing nicely" and becoming a more meaningful contributor to its business.

"Given this sustained progress, we believe that we’re on track to achieve critical ad subscriber scale for advertisers in our ad countries in 2025, creating a strong base from which we can further increase our ad membership in 2026 and beyond," said the statement.

Netflix’s stock price closed Thursday at $643.04 per share with a 0.68% decline on the Nasdaq but fell to as low as $621.95 in after-hours trading with a 3.3% decline.