Teen and co-viewing programming were called out as highlights in the Q1 financial report that Netflix released yesterday, with series such as You, Outer Banks, Ginny & Georgia and That 90s Show putting in strong performances for the global streamer. 

Q1 revenue increased by 4% to US$8.2 billion, compared to the same period in 2022, and net income for the quarter grew by 22% to US$1.3 billion. Globally, subscribers are up by another 1.7 million, building on an increase of 7.7 million in Q4 2022.

The report made a point of crowing about the success of the streamer’s engagement strategy for creating youth-oriented hits. “For Outer Banks S3, we held our first-ever live music event—Poguelandiato—to drive fandom, with the title generating 2.2 billion social impressions to date, just ahead of You S4 with 2.1 billion. Our unique ability to connect creators with huge audiences of passionate fans through our near-global reach, personalization, innovative marketing and publicity are key reasons storytellers want to tell their stories on Netflix.”

This quarter marked a bounceback for Netflix, which had a tough fiscal 2022. Combined US and Canadian subscription revenue grew 9% to US$3.6 billion, buoyed by the addition of the AVOD tier in these markets, and also the addition of paid sharing in Canada. Meanwhile, subscription revenue increased in Latin America by 7% to US$1.07 billion, as well as in APAC (Asia Pacific) by 2% to US$934 million. EMEA revenue dipped by 2% to US$2.5 billion.

Forecasts for Q2 are quite positive, with Netflix predicting its revenue will grow again by 3%. The company also estimates that its operating income will increase to US$1.56 billion, which would be a 19% bump over this quarter. To achieve these results, Netflix plans to focus on monetization by introducing enhancements to its AVOD plan (a new higher-quality streaming option) and continuing the global rollout of paid sharing. “Engagement on our ads tier is above our initial expectations, and as expected, we’ve seen very little switching from our standard and premium plans.” The report also noted an emphasis on working to make all of the content that’s available on the paid subscription offering also available on the AVOD tier. Currently, there’s a 5% gap in this area between the two services.

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