WASHINGTON - United States (US) streaming service Netflix has surpassed 325 million subscribers worldwide, the company said on Tuesday in its first update on customer numbers in a year, reported German Press Agency (dpa).
The company ended 2024 with 301.6 million paying customers.
In the past quarter, Netflix lifted revenue by 17.6 per cent year-on-year to just over US$12 billion. Net profit reached US$2.42 billion, up nearly 29 per cent from a year earlier.
Netflix is currently seeking to acquire the studio and streaming business of Hollywood heavyweight Warner Bros Discovery.
To fund the roughly US$83-billion deal, Netflix said it would suspend share buybacks, announcing the move alongside its earnings report.
US companies often use buybacks to help support their share prices.
Netflix shares fell by up to five per cent in after-hours trading. Since reports of the Warner Bros takeover plans first emerged, the stock has lost around 30 per cent of its value.
Netflix subsequently dropped plans to include shares in the transaction and said it would pay the purchase price in cash.
The streaming giant is locked in a bidding battle with Paramount, which is seeking to buy Warner Bros Discovery outright in a deal valued at more than US$100 billion, including television networks such as CNN. - BERNAMA-dpa