Netflix Fought Cable, and Won

By Caroline Bennett – May 1, 2013 at 5:30PM

NASDAQ: NFLX

Netflix

Market Cap

$242B

Today's Change

(-0.63%) -$3.57

Current Price

$561.23

Price as of April 26, 2024, 4:00 p.m. ET

The streaming video company surpassed HBO in subscribers this quarter.

Streaming video has reached a huge milestone. Along with its first-quarter earnings report, Netflix (NFLX -0.63%) announced it had 29.17 million U.S. subscribers at the end of the quarter, more than cable-TV giant HBO. The company also saw its earnings spike 18% over the past few months, and its stock has taken a sizable jump after the news.

So how did Netflix overtake Time Warner's (TWX) HBO, when just two years ago the company had enraged its subscribers over spiking prices and the Qwikster debacle? Fool contributor Caroline Bennett takes a closer look at Netflix's latest earnings report, and analyzes whether the company's success is because of its push for original programming, or something else.

Fool contributor Caroline Bennett has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Netflix. The Motley Fool owns shares of Netflix. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.