Why Netflix Earnings Are So Great

Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) reported first-quarter financial results after markets closed Monday. The company said that it had $0.64 in earnings per share (EPS) on $3.70 billion in revenue, compared with consensus estimates from Thomson Reuters that called for $0.64 in EPS on $3.69 billion in revenue. The same period of last year had $0.40 in EPS on $2.64 billion in revenue.

During the first quarter, global net adds totaled a new first-quarter record of 7.41 million, up 50% year over year and ahead of the firm’s 6.35 million forecast. In the United States, Netflix added 1.96 million memberships (compared with a forecast of 1.45 million). Internationally, the firm added 5.46 million memberships.

Note that Netflix now has a total of 125 million total memberships worldwide.

Netflix completed its price adjustment during this past quarter, resulting in 12% average selling price growth for the domestic segment. Another highlight from this report is that the international segment now accounts for 50% of revenue and 55% of memberships.

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Looking ahead to the second quarter, the company is calling for $0.79 in EPS on $3.93 billion in revenue. At the same time, the company is expecting to see net adds of 6.2 million. There are consensus estimates calling for $0.64 in EPS on $3.69 billion in revenue.

Free cash flow in the first quarter was −$287 million (less negative than expected due to content payment timing differences), compared with −$524 million in the fourth quarter. On the books, Netflix has cash and cash equivalents of $2.59 billion at the end of the quarter, versus $2.82 billion at the end of the previous fiscal year.

Shares of Netflix closed Monday at $307.78, with a consensus analyst price target of $286.62 and a 52-week range of $138.66 to $333.98. Following the announcement, the stock was up 7% at $329.72 in Monday’s after-hours session.

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