50.1% of Netflix’s users are now beyond US borders

Netflix has had a remarkable week, nay, a remarkable past three months.

The company has unveiled its financial report for Q2 2017, and it’s markedly better than analysts’ forecasts. And that pushed the streaming firm’s stock price up by 10.7% after hours.

As for the hard numbers, the most positive gain can be seen in its increased user base.

Netflix’s streaming membership base now stands at 104-million, up from 99-million in the previous quarter. This is largely thanks to massive gains internationally.

The company added 4.14-million subscribers in Q2 2017 beyond the United States’ borders — that’s nearly double the estimates analysts provided prior to the quarter.

It added slightly more than a million subscribers in the States. But more importantly, Netflix’s largest subscriber base — for the first time — is now beyond its home country’s borders.

In terms of international streaming revenue, the company added to the billion dollar milestone achieved last quarter, racking up US$1.165-billion in Q2 2017.

But the United States market still contributes the largest wad of revenue for the company — US$1.505-billion to be exact.

In total, the company racked up over US$2.7-billion in quarterly revenue.

Netflix cites its content lineup is one of its strongest trump cards in the streaming space.

“Last week, the Television Academy nominated 27 Netflix original programmes with 91 Emmy nominations, nearly double last year’s tally,” the company wrote in a letter to investors.

“With five of the 14 total nominated best series contenders (Stranger Things, The Crown, House of Cards, Master of None and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt), Netflix had the most nominated series of any network.”

With that stated, the company also reaffirmed its commitment to premiering new shows and movies in the coming quarter.

“We understand that our approach to films — debuting movies on Netflix first — is counter to Hollywood’s century-old windowing tradition,” the company explains, hinting its recent standoff with the likes of Cannes.

“But just as we changed and reinvented the TV business by putting consumers first and making access to content more convenient, we believe internet TV can similarly reinvigorate the film business (as distinct from the theatrical business),” it concludes.

Finally, Netflix is forecasting much of the same for Q3 2017, albeit a slightly more conservative outlook.

It predicts user growth of 3.65-million internationally, and 750 000 in the US with total company revenue just falling short of US$3-billion.