NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — In the thick of a deep U.S. recession, you might say that Netflix just defied gravity.
The online film-rental operation on Tuesday said fourth-quarter profit rose 45% with the DVD-rental entity experiencing a subscriber increase while it spent less money on obtaining new customers.
Netflix, whose subscribers rent DVDs through the mail or online, recorded net income of $22.7 million, or 38 cents a share, up from $15.7 million, or 23 cents a share, the year before. Its revenue jumped 19% to $359.6 million.
Charles Mudede—who writes about film, books, music, and his life in Rhodesia, Zimbabwe, the USA, and the UK for The Stranger—was born near a steel plant in Kwe Kwe, Zimbabwe. He has no memory... More by Charles Mudede
Cheap entertainment is still doing okay. Even during Depression 1.0 people still went to matinees.
totally makes sense. $20 = two people going to one movie. OR $20 = many people watching as many movies as they want at home for an entire month. don’t need an MBA to figure that one out. smart business!
actually, that news means this is the time to Sell! Sell! Sell Netfilix while the selling is good!
Good — hell no. Great!
Because everyone knows that the time to buy is immediately after a good earnings announcement.
Dolt.
@3 You might be right.
I actually much prefer the Blockbuster version of the same thing. The selection is 99% the same; the distribution center is in Seattle, so the turn around time is quick; they don’t charge an extra fee to send me blu-ray; and best of all is their in store exchange.
Even though I only pay to have two movies at a time, I can drop the movies off at the store instead of mailing them back. When I do that, I can pick up any movie in the store for free. It’s a great thing to be able to do when you decide you want to watch a movie right now.
How are bittorent stocks doing?
the netflix view on demand is the shit!
I have never watched to many documentaries.
Good stuff . . .
@7:
Okay, but the certificates are often dark & fuzzy, and half the time they’re printed in a foreign language.
You know what was a good investment for me? Not investing. I had a bunch of money sitting around in a savings account, not doing jack squat. How much value did it lose when the market took a nose dive? NONE! Hah! Stick that in your pipe and smoke it, mutual fund managers!
@9 Too true.
It might have had something to do with now being able to stream Netflix on Demand over Xbox Live.
@6 The Netflix center is in Tacoma.
Yep, people stay home when they’re poor, and Netflix is cheap cheap cheap (compared with going out or paying for cable).
The streaming stuff is an added bonus. I expect that part will screech to a halt at some point when internet providers start charging for excessive usage.
It’s one of the few recession-proof industries. My friend who owns a tiny video rental shop in town just had his best month ever.
I just moved to Chicago and am poor, and got a 1-at-a-time-unlimited Netflix account. For some reason, I had never gotten into “The Office.” Thanks to the “unlimited streaming” option, I watch four episodes a day and have no need to go out and make actual friends. Oh, Jim and Pam, when will you get it together?!
Netflix is the best thing ever invented. I wish I had thought of it.
I agree with @1 – Netflix is cheap. If (God forbid) I lose my job, cable & cel phone will get cancelled but I’ll keep Netflix – hell, I’ll even bump it up by 1 flick so I never run out. Totally worth it.