Netflix is now bigger than HBO, after reporting a beat on its third-quarter earnings on the strength of its original content — where it reported it now has around 30 million paying domestic subscribers, and 40 million members overall.
That means Netflix's big bet that good original content could actually help pick up new subscribers appears to be paying off. "Domestic net additions of 1.3 million were 11% higher than prior year Q3 due to the growing strength of our content offering, aided by the great press coverage and social buzz generated by Orange is the New Black and our Emmy nominations, and the softer comp in Q3 2012 from the impact of the summer Olympics," the company said in its earnings.
Shares of Netflix are up about 10% in extended trading, after already rising more than 6% before the closing bell. In the past year, Netflix's stock price has nearly quadrupled.
Netflix reported earnings of 52 cents per share, above analyst estimates of 49 cents, and $1.1 billion in revenue, about in-line with analyst estimates.
"In 2014, we expect to double our investment in original content (though still representing less than 10% of our overall global content expense)," the company said in its release.
By the end of the year, the company expects to have around 43 million members.