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Netflix subscribers hit 270M – but company won’t reveal them from now on

The number of Netflix subscribers increased by 9.3M last quarter, to hit 270M globally – way higher than analysts had expected. However, the company says that it won’t (normally) reveal subscriber numbers in future …

Variety reports that the company comfortably beat estimates for both subscribers and revenue.

Netflix reported its first-quarter 2024 earnings Thursday, revealing it added a whopping 9.33 million paid subscribers [to hit] 269.60 million subs as of March 31 […]

Beyond blowing past analysts’ estimates for its Q1 subscriber additions, Netflix exceeded expectations for its financial results as well […] Netflix reported diluted EPS of $5.28 on $9.37 billion in revenue. That revenue marks a 15% increase from Q1 2023.

Investors were less impressed by an accompanying announcement, however.

Netflix will no longer report subscriber numbers — which has been a key metric for streaming services for years — beginning with the first quarter of 2025 […]

Despite the Q1 earnings beat, Netflix shares dropped more than 4.5% in after-hours trading Thursday, possibly as investors reacted negatively to the news that the streamer will stop reporting quarterly sub totals.

The company says it will in future focus on other metrics – like total time spent using the service. It did say that it will still report key milestones, so we can probably expect to hear about it when the number reaches 300M.

The move echoes one by Apple back in 2018, when it stopped reporting unit sales for iPhones and other products, switching instead to reporting total revenue for each category. Investors expressed dismay at this at the time, but we noted it was unlikely to be cause for concern, and everyone quickly adjusted to the new normal.

Photo by John Schnobrich on Unsplash

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Avatar for Ben Lovejoy Ben Lovejoy

Ben Lovejoy is a British technology writer and EU Editor for 9to5Mac. He’s known for his op-eds and diary pieces, exploring his experience of Apple products over time, for a more rounded review. He also writes fiction, with two technothriller novels, a couple of SF shorts and a rom-com!


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