Netflix today (July 17) released strong second-quarter earnings, with revenue up 16% year-on-year and profits up 45% to $3.1 billion. The streaming giant attributes the surge to recent subscription price increases, a booming advertising business and a global hit rate lineup.
Netflix attributes growth to three main factors: increased subscribers (although exact numbers are no longer disclosed), price increases in major markets such as the United States, and a sharp rise in advertising revenue. Together, the drivers helped the company surpass Wall Street expectations and raised its full-year forecast to $44.8 billion to $45.2 billion.
Netflix no longer regularly shares subscriber numbers that once dominated revenue calls. Instead, it emphasizes engagement metrics, such as viewing time. One of the outstanding performers of this season is Season 3 Squid Game (Published in the last week of June)which has earned 122 million views in just a few weeks, is the sixth season of all Netflix champions to date.
In the United States, viewers have increased their ratings Ginny and Georgia Season 3 (53 million views) and Tina Fey’s new comedy Four Seasons (40 million views). One of the biggest surprises of the quarter comes from KPOP Demon HunterIt’s an animated K-pop action movie that attracted 80 million global views and produced a record soundtrack that surpassed the benchmarks previously set by BTS and Blackpink.
The company also received 120 Emmy nominations this quarter, highlighting its continued dominance on Prestige TV.
Big content expenditure ahead
Looking ahead, Netflix plans to double the original content and live events in the second half of 2025. Wednesday Season 2, series finale Stranger stuff,,,,, Alice in the border area Season 3 and movie sequels Happy Gilmore 2 and Troll 2.
On the live front, Netflix will play a highly anticipated boxing match between Caneloálvarez and Terence Crawford on September 13. It also plans to create sports history with the first NFL Christmas Doubleheader this holiday season.
The release schedule of the package comes with a cost. Despite strong financial results, Netflix’s stock has fallen slightly in after-hours trading after the company warned that operating margins could shrink in the second half of the year due to marketing costs associated with its sensational lineup.
Even so, Netflix is expecting a record-breaking second half in 2025, noting that viewers played 95 billion hours of content in the first half. Netflix ended 2024 with more than 300 million subscribers, which could grow if the current trend continues.
