Netflix Surprises Investors By Announcing It Made Profit, Added Subscribers

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Netflix's Internet video service has added 2 million U.S. subscribers during the final three months of the year to produce an unexpected profit for the company.

The performance announced Wednesday validates investors' recent confidence in Netflix Inc., whose volatile stock had surged by more than 30 percent since early December. The stock soared another 29 percent after the fourth-quarter numbers came out.

The surge in new customers left Netflix with 27.1 million U.S. subscribers to its service that streams movies and TV shows to Internet-connected devices.

Netflix earned nearly $8 million, or 13 cents per share. That was a 78 percent drop from the same time in the previous year.

But investors had been bracing for a loss as Netflix's expenses rose.

Revenue climbed 8 percent to $945 million.

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