Netflix kicked off 2025 with strong financial momentum, posting first-quarter results that beat Wall Street expectations on both earnings and revenue. The company reported $10.54 billion in revenue, a nearly 13% year-over-year increase, and net income of $2.89 billion, or $6.61 per share, easily surpassing analysts’ projections.
The earnings beat was largely driven by higher-than-expected subscription and advertising revenue, signaling that Netflix’s evolving business strategy is paying off.
Pricing Strategy Boosts Revenue
A key driver behind the revenue growth was a price hike implemented in January. The company raised its standard plan to $17.99, ad-supported plan to $7.99, and premium plan to $24.99. While the increases sparked some initial pushback from users, the move helped boost revenue without significantly dampening demand.
This earnings report also marked a strategic shift in how Netflix communicates its performance: the company no longer discloses quarterly subscriber numbers, choosing instead to focus on broader financial metrics such as revenue and profitability.
Advertising Becomes a Core Focus
With global subscriber growth slowing in recent years, Netflix is leaning more heavily on its advertising business. In early April, it launched its own in-house ad tech platform in the U.S., designed to give advertisers more tools for targeting and measuring ad performance.
“We believe our ad tech platform is foundational to our long term ads strategy,” the company said. “Over time, it will enable us to offer better measurement, enhanced targeting, innovative ad formats and expanded programmatic capabilities.”
Netflix added that, “A key focus in 2025 is enhancing our capabilities for advertisers,” pointing to future international expansion of the platform.
Market Resilience Amid Broader Volatility
Netflix’s strong performance stands in contrast to the broader media sector, which has been rattled by economic uncertainty and trade tensions. Traditional media stocks have faced turbulence in recent months, driven in part by President Donald Trump’s trade policy and its potential ripple effects on consumer behavior.
Still, Netflix appears largely insulated from those pressures — at least for now.
“Based on what we are seeing by actually operating the business right now, there’s nothing really significant to note,” said Netflix co-CEO Greg Peters during the company’s earnings call.
“We also take some comfort that entertainment historically has been pretty resilient in tougher economic times. Netflix, specifically, also, has been generally quite resilient. We haven’t seen any major impacts during those tougher times, albeit over a much shorter history,” Peters added.
The company maintained its full-year revenue forecast of $43.5 billion to $44.5 billion, reinforcing its confidence despite external economic headwinds.
“There’s been no material change to our overall business outlook,” Netflix said in its official earnings statement.
Wall Street Reaction
Investors responded positively to the earnings news. Netflix shares rose about 2% in after-hours trading on Thursday, reflecting optimism over the company’s revenue strategy and its ability to navigate shifting market conditions.
The Big Picture
Netflix’s Q1 results highlight the company’s ongoing transformation from a subscription-focused model to a more diversified media platform, with advertising playing an increasingly central role. By focusing on pricing power, in-house technology, and financial discipline, Netflix appears well-positioned to weather market volatility — and continue its lead in the streaming space
