Netflix records record number of new paying users in 2020 2020

Netflix currently has just over 203 million paid subscribers. The streaming service reached that number thanks to 8.5 million new paying users in the past fourth quarter. 2020 was a record year in terms of the number of new paying users.

That says Netflix 2020 in an explanation of the quarterly figures. During the entire year, 37 million paid users were added, which is an unprecedented high. In the fourth quarter, 8.5 million paid users were added, 4.5 million of which were from the combined region of Europe, the Middle East and Africa. This is still the region with the most growth.

The company expects the number of new paying subscribers to reach 6 million in the first quarter of this year. That would be significantly lower than the 15.8 million paid users added in the first quarter of last year. That high number of one year was attributed to the mandatory stay-at-home situation as a result of the corona pandemic. As a result, the first nine months of 2020 were very positive for Netflix: in that period 28.1 million paying users were added. That’s more than the total number of new users added in all of 2019.

Just like during the presentation of the quarterly figures for the third quarter of last year, Netflix now emphasizes that it is increasingly dependent on the capital markets to raise money for its productions. The company says it is close to a positive cash flow point. This should be cost-effective this year. That, combined with a cash balance of $8.2 billion and an undrawn loan of $750 million, Netflix expects it will no longer need outside financing for its day-to-day operations.

The streaming service achieved revenue of $6.64 billion in the fourth quarter, which is considerably higher than the $5.47 billion in the fourth quarter of 2019. Net profit in the past quarter came in at $587 million, where that is. was $542 million a year ago. Net profit for the whole of 2020 was $2.76 billion, compared to $1.87 billion in 2019.