Netflix Doubles Profit, Shares Hit High

(Updated from Thursday)

LOS GATOS, Calif. (TheStreet) -- Netflix(NFLX Quote) shares hit a one-year high on Friday, a day after the online movie renter said its third-quarter profit nearly doubled.

The company also upped its fourth-quarter and full-year outlook, sending shares climbing 10.5% to $54.89 in afternoon trading, after hitting a record $57.50 earlier in the day.

During the quarter, the company earned $30.1 million, or 52 cents a share, from $20.4 million, 33 cents, in the year-ago period. Analysts expected the company to earn 46 cents a share.

Revenue climbed 24% to $423.1 million from $341.3 million last year.

Netflix ended the quarter with about 11,109,000 total subscribers, a 28% boost from the same time last year.

The company said it plans to expand its newer online streaming service internationally in the second half of 2010. It also said that users can soon watch streaming videos through a device already in many homes.

Analysts are murmuring that this could mean that they are partnering with a video-game console maker like Sony(SNE Quote) or Nintendo. Netflix already has a deal with Microsoft(MSFT Quote) to watch videos through its XBox 360.

Looking ahead, Netflix expects to earn 38 cents to 47 cents a share in the fourth quarter, higher than the 36 cents to 44 cents a share it previously forecast.

For the full-year, Netflix is predicting earnings in the range of $1.82 to $1.90 a share, up from its prior outlook of $1.65 to $1.82 a share.

-- Reported by Jeanine Poggi in New York

Follow TheStreet.com on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook.