Netflix earns 166 pct. more in 2nd quarter, broadens subscriber base

New York, Jul 16 (efe-epa).- Netflix on Thursday announced profits of $720 million between March and June, 166 percent more than the $270 million the firm made during the same period last year, adding that it expanded its worldwide subscriber base by 10.1 million, continuing the huge ballooning of its customer rolls during the coronavirus pandemic and the associated lockdowns and quarantines.

In the second quarter of the firm’s fiscal year, the Los Gatos, California-based company took in earnings of more than $6.148 billion, 6 percent more than the $4.923 billion it charged during the same quarter in 2019, and its shareholders pocketed $1.63 per share, up from the $0.62 the firm handed out a year ago.

The 10.1 million subscriber increase further bolsters the firm’s 15.8 million registered users it registered in the first quarter of 2020, the largest influx of new customers in company history, doubling analysts’ expectations for that period.

The figure means that in the first six months of this year, the streaming service has accumulated almost 26 million new subscribers, compared to the 28 million it attracted during all of 2019, a clear sign of the benefits the company has enjoyed amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Gross profits for the firm before interest and taxes were $2.015 billion during the past three months, compared with $500 million between March and June 2019.

However, so far this year, Netflix has not managed to reduce its long-term debt, which stands at $15.2 million, compared to the $12.5 million it registered during the same period last year.

The firm projected an increase of 2.5 million paying subscribers during the upcoming three months, much below the 5.27 million analysts have been expecting, while third quarter earnings are expected to total $6.3 billion with operating income of $1.25 billion, net income of $954 million and earnings of $2.09 per share.

The Netflix results did not convince investors of the firm’s prospects and were counted as a “miss,” with shares falling about 10 percent in after hours electronic trading on the New York markets, given that the company did not meet analysts’ expectations for $1.81 in per-share profits or the widely anticipated subscriber forecasts.