Netflix starts second half strong with ‘Squid Game,’ new movies

Netflix Inc. posted its best subscriber growth of the year, beating Wall Street estimates thanks to the popularity of “Squid Game,” its breakout drama from South Korea.

The company added 4.38 million subscribers in the third quarter, according to a statement Tuesday, exceeding projections of 3.72 million. Netflix expects to sign up 8.5 million customers in the final three months of 2021, compared with Wall Street estimates of 8.32 million, thanks to an “unprecedented” slate of upcoming shows.

A busy programming slate in the final four months will help Netflix recover from a slow start to the year. The service added just 5.5 million customers in the first six months of 2021, the least since 2013.