LOS GATOS, Calif.—After a massive growth in subscriptions for the first two quarters of 2020, Netflix experienced a slow down in the third quarter. Even so, the streamer’s net income and revenue saw an overall increase.
The third quarter saw the addition of just 2.2 million paid subscribers. The company said that it projected a growth of 2.5 million, however Wall Street projections were as high as 3.6 million.
With the nearly 26 million subscribers that signed up for Netflix in the first two quarters of 2020—during the height of the pandemic—the 28.1 million new subscribers in the first nine months of this year already surpasses the 27.8 million added in 2019. To date, Netflix has 195.15 million global subscribers, up 23.3% from a year ago.
Netflix is projecting that it will see an increase in subscriber growth in Q4, estimating an addition of 6 million subscribers, which will bring its total count to 201.15 million paid subscribers. It would also set a record for Netflix’s single-year subscription growth at 34 million, topping the previous record of 28.6 million in 2018.
The Asia-Pacific region was the largest growth sector, per Netflix.
Despite seeing a lower than expected subscriber growth, Netflix’s Q3 net income rose to $790 million, up from $665 million a year ago. Revenue rose to $6.436 billion.
Netflix believes that it will continue to add subscribers as popular original programming is slated for the rest of 2020 and 2021, including the fourth season of “Stranger Things” and season two of “The Witcher.”
The complete third quarter 2020 financial report is available on Netflix's investor website.
