Netflix beat its own forecasts by a huge 3.2 million people to land 7.7 million new subs during the December quarter.

This pleasing end to 2022 comes after a horror FY22 run that saw the streaming leaders shed millions of users after consecutive quarters, as competitors like Disney+ and Amazon Prime bolstered their offerings and begin tussling for content rights.

The return to Netflix was led by one of its strongest slates of new content seen in a while.

According to the company’s quarterly investor letter, Addams Family reboot Wednesday was Netflix’s third-most popular series ever, while the controversial Harry & Meghan was the second-most popular documentary series.

Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery was the fourth-most popular film on the service of all time.

This strong end run follows a good September quarter, where the company added 2.41 million users, worldwide and stopped the subscriber bleed.

Netflix ended 2022 with 230.8 million global subscribers. Closest rival Disney+ has 164.2 million.

Credit: Statista 2022

Financially, revenue rose 1.9 per cent year-on-year during the quarter, to A$11.43 billion, although net profit dropped a dramatic 91 per cent to A$80 million, due to an unrealised loss from a Eurobond currency hedge, impacted by the exchange rate.

Most of Netflix’s growth was seen in the US/Canada market, financially at least, with revenue up 10 per cent, year-on-year, to A$5.2 billion, and 910,000 new subscribers.

Revenue for the Asia Pacific region was A$1.24 billion, down 17 per cent, despite adding 1.8 subscribers in the region.

Netflix has forecast further revenue growth of 8 per cent in the first quarter of 2023, based on a higher average return per user, and “modest” subscriber growth.

“2022 was a tough year, with a bumpy start but a brighter finish,” co-founder Reed Hastings told investors.

Hastings also used the opportunity to bow out as co-CEO, moving to executive chairman.

Longtime Netflix executive Greg Peters will step up as co-CEO alongside Ted Sarandos.

Netflix shares leapt as high at 9.5 per cent in after-hours trading.