Netflix shared it Q3 earnings report Tuesday, sharing that the streaming service added 4.4 million subscribers for the quarter and bringing the total number of global subscribers to 214 million.
Netflix reported that it expects to add 8.5 million subscribers in Q4 as it releases more content that had been delayed due to the pandemic and debuts holiday content.
“We’re very excited to finish the year with what we expect to be our strongest Q4 content offering yet, which shows up as bigger content expense and lower operating margins sequentially,” the letter to shareholders notes.
Netflix revenue reached 7.5 billion in Q3, a 16% increase year over year. Revenue growth was caused in part by an increase in average paid streaming memberships.
Season five of La Casa de Papel (aka Money Heist) and season three of Sex Education were two of the most successful series for the quarter, with 69 million and 55 million households respectively streaming within the first four weeks on the platform. Squid Game was released on September 17 and saw 142 million households streaming in the first four weeks, making It the biggest TV show ever on Netflix.
For movies, Netflix released Sweet Girl with Jason Momoa in Q3 with 68 million households tuning in during the first four weeks, Kissing Booth 3 getting 59 million household views in the first four weeks, and Blood Red, a German language horror film getting 53 million household views in its first four weeks.
Upcoming content in Q4 includes returning series like The Witcher, You, Tiger King and Cobra Kai, returning non-English series like Sintonia and the last season of La Casa de Papel (aka Money Heist). The Q4 movie lineup includes Red Notice (starring Dwayne Johnson, Gal Gadot and Ryan Reynolds), Don’t Look Up (starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lawrence, Rob Morgan, Jonah Hill, Timothée Chalamet, Tyler Perry and Meryl Streep), The Harder They Fall (featuring Jonathan Majors, Zazie Beetz, LaKeith Stanfield, Regina King and Idris Elba), Army of Thieves (the prequel to Army of the Dead) and The Unforgivable (starring Sandra Bullock, Viola Davis and Jon Bernthal).
“Assuming no new Covid waves or unforeseen events that result in large scale production shutdowns, we currently anticipate a more normalized content slate in 2022, with a greater number of originals in 2022 vs. 2021 and a release schedule that is more balanced over the course of the year, as compared to 2021.” Netflix wrote in the letter to shareholders.