SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Netflix added nearly 19 million subscribers during the holiday-season quarter to help propel its earnings beyond analysts’ projections, signaling that the video streaming service’s expansion into live programming is paying off.

The numbers released Tuesday covered a October-December period highlighted by Netflix’s streaming of a widely watched fight between YouTube sensation Jake Paul and former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson in addition to two National Football League games on Christmas Day.

Although Netflix’s interest in live programming is primarily tied to its efforts to sell more commercials, it also appears to be giving current subscribers another reason to stick with the service while also reeling in more viewers to pay for the service. Netflix ended last year with more than 300 million worldwide subscribers, an increase of 41 million from 2023.

The breakdown marked the last time Netflix plans to provide a quarterly count on its total subscribers as management tries to get investors to intensify their focus on the Los Gatos, California company’s financial performance.

And those figures were robust in the most recent quarter, with Netflix earning $1.9 billion, or $4.27 per share, nearly doubling from the same time in 2023. Revenue climbed 16% from the same 2023 period to $10.2 billion.

To juice its finances even more this year, Netflix announced in its shareholder letter that it will be raising its prices in the U.S., Canada, Portugal and Argentina in the upcoming weeks. The letter didn't specify the new prices, but Netflix typically increases the costs of its plans by a $1 or $2 per month.

In a sign that Netflix is confident the price increases won't trigger a backlash resulting in mass cancellations, Netflix slightly raised its revenue outlook for this year to a mid-range of $44 billion, which would translate into a roughly 13% increase from last year.

Netflix’s shares surged by 3% in extended trading after the report came out. If the shares behave similarly in Wednesday's regular trading session, it will mark a new high for the stock. The shares soared by 83% last year to create nearly $200 billion in additional shareholder wealth as Netflix continued to extend its lead over the rest of the video streaming pack.

Besides asking subscribers to pay more, Netflix is trying to sell more advertising as part of an initiative that began in late 2022 with the introduction of a low-priced version of its service that included periodic commercial interruptions for the first time. The commercials are shown to all subscribers during live programming, one of the reasons Netflix is focusing more on the segment, leading to high-priced deals with the NFL, World Wrestling Entertainment and the Women’s World Cup.

Netflix still isn’t revealing how much advertising revenue that it’s reeling in, with management saying the amount will remain relatively small for at least another year or two.

But Netflix’s main drawing card remains scripted TV series and movies – an entertainment pipeline that this year will include new seasons of popular shows such as “Stranger Things,” “Squid Games,” and “You.”