Netflix hits record high on blockbuster subscriber gains, price hikes

** Shares of streaming giant Netflix NFLX.O rise 14.4% to hit a record high of $995.21 in premarket trading

** Netflix said on Tuesday it added 18.9 mln subscribers in Q4 vs estimates of 9.6 mln - LSEG

** Company has total global subscriber base of 301.6 million customers

** NFLX says it will increase prices for most plans in the U.S., Canada, Portugal and Argentina

** In U.S., Netflix's ad-supported service will cost $7.99 a month, up from $6.99

** "Netflix has proved its success is not waning – it is going from strength to strength and continues to be king of the streaming platforms," says Dan Coatsworth, investment analyst at AJ Bell

** "It has achieved the perfect four – every quarter in the 2024 financial year beat earnings expectations. The last time it achieved that status was in 2018"

** Q4 revenue came in at $10.25 bln vs ests. of $10.11 bln

** Stock had risen 83% in 2024

(Reporting by Harshita Mary Varghese in Bengaluru)

((HarshitaMary.Varghese@thomsonreuters.com))