Netflix Announces Yet Another Price Hike as it Adds a Record Number of New Subscribers

Netflix has achieved a significant milestone by surpassing 300 million subscribers, culminating in a record-breaking quarter with 19 million new subscribers added in Q4 alone, and a total of 41 million for the entire year of 2024. The company concluded the fiscal year with 302 million paid members. This marks the final quarter Netflix will report subscriber growth, though they plan to continue announcing paid memberships when hitting key milestones.

However, alongside this success, Netflix has announced another round of price increases for most of its plans in the U.S., Canada, Portugal, and Argentina. This decision comes just over a year after the last price hike in 2023, following a pattern of annual increases that started with the first hike in 2014. The company justifies these adjustments in its shareholder letter, stating, "As we continue to invest in programming and deliver more value for our members, we will occasionally ask our members to pay a little more so that we can re-invest to further improve Netflix."

Although the exact details of the price hikes were not specified in the letter, reports from The Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg indicate that the ad-supported tier will increase from $6.99 to $7.99 per month, the standard ad-free plan will rise from $15.49 to $17.99 per month, and the premium tier will go from $22.99 to $24.99 per month. Additionally, Netflix introduced a new "extra member with ads" plan, allowing individuals on an ad-supported plan to add someone outside their household for an additional fee, a feature previously exclusive to standard and premium plans.

Financially, Netflix reported a 16% year-over-year increase in quarterly revenue, reaching $10.2 billion, and a similar annual revenue growth to $39 billion. The company forecasts a 12% to 14% year-over-year growth for 2025.