Netflix's Earnings, Subscriber Numbers Jump after 'Squid Game'

Netflix reported, on Tuesday, billion dollar profits and booming subscriber growth that beat forecasts as global hits like 'Squid Games' drew viewers in their droves.

During the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns, analysts believed that a surge in Netflix subscriptions would be followed by a plunge as the world opened back up.

However, the streaming entertainment star affirmed that in the third quarter it made a profit of $1.45 billion on revenue that grew 16 percent to $7.5 billion in that period.

Thanks to Korean drama "Squid Game", subscribers jumped by 4.4 million, double the growth seen in the same quarter in 2020, allowing the platform to end the period with 214 million worldwide.

Netflix said it was finishing the year with "what we expect to be our strongest Q4 content offering yet."

"Our programming strategy is to provide members with a wide variety of high quality content that's loved and watched in large numbers," it said in a statement.

The K-drama became Netflix's biggest show ever, watched by a "mind-boggling" 142 million households in the four weeks after its release in mid-September, according to the executives' statments.

Executives described Squid Games as "a unique Korean story that first captured the zeitgeist in Korea and then globally."

"The breadth of Squid Game's popularity is truly amazing; this show has been ranked as our #1 program in 94 countries," Netflix said. "Squid Game has also pierced the cultural zeitgeist, spawning a Saturday Night Live skit and memes/clips on TikTok with more than 42 billion views."