Netflix posts biggest quarterly subscriber gain due to sports, ‘Squid Game’

Netflix Inc. closed 2024 with its biggest quarterly subscriber gain in history, buoyed by its first major live sporting events and the return of Squid Game.

The company added 18.9 million customers in the fourth quarter, according to a shareholder letter Tuesday. That was more than double what Wall Street expected and brought global subscribers at Netflix to more than 300 million. The company’s previous best was 15 million in the first quarter of 2020 — numbers driven by the onset of the coronavirus pandemic.