A few quick Netflix-related facts:
- The online streaming service now has over 30 million subscribers, which is notable because (a) that is more subscribers than HBO has, and (b) that is so many subscribers.
- In yesterday’s quarterly report, it revealed that it picked up 1.3 million subscribers between July and September alone, and quadrupled its earnings from the previous quarter.
- Everyone is going insane now.
I should probably elaborate on the last point. When I say “everyone,” I mean investors, whose reaction to yesterday’s report caused Netflix’s stock to jump about 11 percent, which is great, I guess, except for the fact that it also might be a little crazy.
“They are growing nicely, and they deserve credit for that,” said Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter. “But I still don’t understand how they can be valued this high.”
In a Monday interview, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings acknowledged “there seems to be some euphoria” surrounding the company’s stock.
And speaking of Netflix CEO Reed Hastings, he’s going a little insane, too, but in a fun way.
Hastings told The Associated Press that “Orange Is The New Black” played such a big role in the company’s success during the third quarter that he considered staging a special tribute to the series during a Monday discussion of the earnings that was shown on a video feed. “I almost did the earnings show in an orange jumpsuit,” Hastings quipped, adding he was overruled by Netflix’s head of communications.
So, to recap: Thanks to quality original programming like Orange Is the New Black and House of Cards, as well as binge-watchers getting caught up on shows for the new fall season, Netflix was so successful this summer that it might have created a mini-bubble on the stock market and its CEO is so excited about everything that he almost dressed like a convicted felon to tell everyone about it.
