Netflix Says It Now Has 30M Subs Worldwide

Investors see Netflix's disappointing subscriber growth as a glass half empty, and today CEO Reed Hastings apparently wants to persuade the public that it's more than half full. That's the only reason I can think of for announcing that the company has more than 30M subs globally including more than 25M in the U.S. It's no surprise. The number is just a tad higher than the figures Netflix reported two days ago for the end of Q3: It said that it had 25.1M domestic streaming subscribers and an additional 4.3M abroad. That irked Wall Street because it meant the company had to cut its forecast for domestic sub growth in 2012 to about 5M from 7M. 'We own it in terms of a bad forecast,' Hastings said on Tuesday. 'But in terms of actual performance of the business, to grow 5 million net adds domestic is substantial and we feel good about that and about the growth next year.' That's the theme he's reinforcing today in a Facebook posting thanking Netflix customers. 'Your choice to be a Netflix member helps us get more content every year, and helps us further improve our member experience,' he says. 'You make it possible for us to offer the most amazing internet television experience ever.' Netflix shares are up about 1% in early trading today, slightly ahead of the market.