Netflix Hikes Prices Amid Record Subscriber Growth

Netflix has just celebrated a monumental achievement by crossing the 300 million subscriber milestone, thanks to a record-breaking quarter where they added 19 million new subscribers. In their full-year 2024 earnings report, the streaming giant announced they ended the year with 302 million paid subscribers, marking a total increase of 41 million for the year. This quarter marks the last time Netflix will report subscriber growth, although they will continue to share updates on paid memberships when they reach significant milestones.

However, alongside this success, Netflix has announced another round of price increases across most of its plans in the U.S., Canada, Portugal, and Argentina. This decision comes just over a year after their last price hike in 2023, and follows a pattern of annual increases dating back to their first in 2014. In their letter to shareholders, Netflix justified the price adjustments by stating, "As we continue to invest in programming and deliver more value for our members, we will occasionally ask our members to pay a little more so that we can re-invest to further improve Netflix."

While the exact details of the price hikes were not specified in the shareholder letter, reports from The Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg indicate that the ad-supported tier will increase from $6.99 to $7.99 per month, the standard ad-free plan will rise from $15.49 to $17.99 per month, and the premium tier will go from $22.99 to $24.99 per month. Additionally, Netflix introduced a new "extra member with ads" plan, allowing individuals on an ad-supported plan to add someone outside their household for an additional fee, a feature previously exclusive to standard and premium plans.

Financially, Netflix reported a 16% year-over-year increase in quarterly revenue, reaching $10.2 billion, and a similar annual revenue growth to $39 billion. Looking ahead, the company forecasts a year-over-year growth of between 12% and 14% for 2025.