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(Bloomberg) — Netflix Inc., the top stock in the Standard & Poor’s 500 this year, soared to a record high after reporting 65.6 million new subscribers to its Internet TV service in the second quarter.
Netflix climbed 18 percent to $115.81 at the close in New York following the second-quarter results. That matched the gain recorded three months ago, when the company also reported better-than-expected new user data.

The subscriber results released Wednesday by Los Gatos, California-based Netflix highlight its progress building the first global Internet TV channel, fueled by new shows such as “Daredevil” and “Sense8.” At the same time, profit fell in the quarter as the company poured money into new programming, spending that will exceed $6 billion next year.

Netflix’s strongest growth was in international markets, where subscribers jumped 2.37 million to 23.3 million, the company said on its website. That beat the 1.94 million average of five analysts’ estimates compiled by Bloomberg News. Domestic subscribers grew by 900,000 to 42.3 million, beating estimates of 636,000.

The company expanded to New Zealand and Australia in March, and will offer its service in Japan, Spain, Italy and Portugal later this year. International subscribers now account for 31 percent of Netflix’s streaming revenue, and the company said it’s profitable in several of the foreign territories where it first offered service.
To contact the reporters on this story: Paul Barbagallo in New York at pbarbagallo2@bloomberg.net; Lucas Shaw in Los Angeles at lshaw31@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Anthony Palazzo at apalazzo@bloomberg.net Paul Barbagallo, Lisa Wolfson