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Netflix CEO boasts 'minor milestone' revenue triumph over HBO

The silver lining, at least for HBO, is Hastings appears to be a fan of the show 'Silicon Valley.'
Written by Rachel King, Contributor

 

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Netflix CEO Reed Hastings hasn't shied away from sharing what he thinks on Facebook, with his latest status update paying a back-handed compliment to chief rival HBO.

The most important takeaway from the short post is how Netflix's Q2 subscriber revenue compares to HBO, putting more pressure on the established premium cable giant to consider opening up to a standalone online subscriber offering.

Without mincing words (and maybe sweetening up the end with a little sugar), Hastings wrote on Thursday:

Minor milestone: last quarter we passed HBO in subscriber revenue ($1.146B vs $1.141B). They still kick our ass in profits and Emmy's, but we are making progress. HBO rocks, and we are honored to be in the same league. (yes, I loved Silicon Valley and yes it hit a little close to home.)

Giving Hastings even more reason to gloat, Netflix is riding a large wave of momentum lately, with user and revenue growth continuing to climb quarter after quarter.

The Los Gatos, Calif.-based company reported second quarter earnings last month, delivering Non-GAAP earnings at $1.15 per share on a revenue of $1.34 billion.

Netflix also netted approximately 1.69 million new subscribers during the quarter, bringing the worldwide grand total of current monthly subscribers to 50.05 million.

Netflix has ambitious plans for the following quarter, projecting to add 3.69 million more subscribers over the following three-month period for an approximate grand total of 53.74 million globally.

Both Q2 and Q3 user count growth is being propelled by international expansion. Feeding off successful launches in Finland and Argentina, Netflix is moving into Germany, France, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium, and Luxembourg in September.

Also looking ahead, analysts expect Netflix to deliver Q3 earnings of $1.06 per share on a revenue of $1.38 billion.

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