Netflix shares soar to all-time high as investors cheer subscriber growth, price hikes

Shares of Netflix soared 13% to an all-time high on Wednesday after the streaming giant’s big bet on sports helped add a record 18.9 million subscribers in the holiday quarter, ballooning its already sizeable advantage over other players.The company also unveiled price hikes on Tuesday in markets including the US, aiming to boost revenue just as it shifts focus from subscriber growth to other performance metrics such as sales.“We thought it was a typo. Netflix defied the odds once again, delivering subscriber additions far beyond even the most unreasonable subscriber bogey,” Bernstein analyst Laurent Yoon said.The company’s global subscriber base now exceeds 300 million, giving it a commanding lead in the streaming wars and more leverage in talks with marketing firms as it looks to grow its ad-supported business.Netflix, already worth more than the combined valuations of rivals Disney, Comcast, Paramount and Warner Bros Discovery, was set to add more than $50 billion to its market capitalization of about $370 billion, if gains hold.The stock hit a record high of $988 during early morning trading on Wednesday, paving the way for a potential stock split.Its shares soared more than 80% last year, driven by Netflix’s expansion into live sports with content including a boxing match between Jake Paul and Mike Tyson, as well as the debut of popular National Football League games on Christmas Day — which included a half-time performance from popstar Beyonce.The Nov.15 Tyson-Paul bout was the most-streamed sporting event ever and drove the most sign-ups for Netflix for any event since Antenna started tracking this data in 2019.

Its strong content slate in the quarter also included the second season of “Squid Game” and the hit streaming movie “Carry-On.”“Sports rights can be incredibly expensive and it makes sense that Netflix has opted to go with special events.Such events are also perfect for attracting advertisers keen to reach a large a...