After boosting subscriber count, Netflix hikes prices for some. Here's how much your plan will cost.
Netflix is hiking prices for some of its customers after tallying robust growth in its subscriber base.
The video streaming service on Wednesday said it brought on an additional 8.8 million customers in the third quarter, bringing its overall subscriber count to 247.2 million. Netflix credited the variety and quality of its programming and the company's crackdown on password sharing for its broadened reach.
Effective immediately, Netflix is hiking the monthly price of its costliest plan in the U.S. to $22.99, an increase of $3, and adding $2 to the monthly cost of its basic plan, which is rising to $11.99. The company's $6.99 ad-supported plan will remain the same.
Prices for the basic and premium plans in France and the U.K. are also increasing.
"As we deliver more value to our members, we occasionally ask them to pay a bit more," Netflix stated in a letter to its shareholders. "Our starting price is extremely competitive with other streamers and at $6.99 per month in the U.S., for example, it's much less than the average price of a single movie ticket."
The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this month that Netflix would hike subscription prices a couple of months after the Hollywood actors strike concludes. The actors are still on strike, but the Writers Guild of America last month ended its walkout after coming to an agreement with services like Netflix.
The Los Gatos, California, company reported third-quarter earnings of $1.68 billion, up 20%, from the year-ago period. Netflix forecast revenue of $8.69 billion in the current quarter, with the company finding its financial footing as newer streaming services struggle.
Shares of Netflix jumped 12% in trading after the close of U.S. markets.
Netflix has added more than 16 million subscribers through the first nine months of the year, surpassing the 8.9 million subscribers that it added in all of 2022. But it's just a fraction of the more than 36 million additional subscribers that Netflix brought on in 2020 when the pandemic turned into a money-generating period for the service at a time when people were looking for things to do stuck at home.
-- The Associated Press contributed to this report.
