Profits at Netflix Jump to $71 Million

On Monday, Netflix Inc announced that its profit for the recently ended quarter had more than doubled thanks to strong growth from subscribers both in the U.S. and internationally, as an increase in monthly rates for its popular video streaming plan in the U.S. did not scare away new subscribers.

Netflix added more than 570,000 new U.S. customers during the second quarter that ended on June 30. The streaming service also surpassed 50 million subscribers worldwide for the first time. In its international markets, Netflix added another 1.12 million subscribers.

The shares at the company increased by 1% in trading after hours to $456.21, after it was also announced by the company it expected the average per user revenue to increase slowly as it wins more subscribers over at its new prices.

In May, the company increased the monthly price of the most popular plan for video streaming to $9, which was an increase of $1 a month for new clients in the U.S. That represented the first price increase in three years in the company’s largest market.

An exodus of consumers and a plunge in stock was experienced by the company in July of 2011 after announcing a price increase that was unpopular.

Executives at Netflix said they were discussing a possible move into the most populated country in the world, China.

Reed Hastings the CEO at Netflix said that any move to China, if that even happens, would not occur in the short term. He said the company was focusing currently on Europe with China a possibility in the long term.

Netflix announced it was planning to enter Austria, France, Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg and Switzerland during September, which takes its addressable market internationally to over 180 million households, which is double the current market in the U.S.

Profit at the company increased to $71 million equal to $1.15 a share from the same time last year of $29.5 million equal to 49 cents a share. Revenue was up from last year’s $1.07 billion to $1.34 billion.

Analysts had expected a per share profit of $1.16 with revenue of $1.34 billion.