After a year of questions about the future of cable and streaming, it seems that (NASDAQ: NFLX) announced to the world this week that it's the clear leader in streaming. Third-quarter results easily passed expectations, and according to data provided by S&P Global Market Intelligence, shares popped as much as 15.5% in trading this week. At noon ET on Friday, shares are up 13.4% for the week and leading the tech industry by a wide margin.

Results were impressive by almost any measure. Revenue was $8.54 billion, up 7.8% from a year ago, and net income was $1.7 billion, or $3.73 per share. But what really shocked investors was the addition of 8.76 million subscribers in the quarter. Netflix is back on a growth trend, and that's been helped by ad-supported tiers that could open up a huge new revenue opportunity. 

The stock reacted because of how much Netflix beat expectations. Wall Street expected revenue of $8.54 billion, earnings of $3.49 per share, and subscriber additions of just 5.49 million. So results beat expectations across the board.

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Source Fool.com