Some analysts expect company to hike prices in US next year
Adsupported tier accounted for over 50 of signups in available countries
Company tops estimates for quarterly subscriber additions, profit

Oct 18 Reuters Netflix shares hit an alltime high on Friday, buoyed by investor optimism that its robust content lineup will help the streaming giant maintain upbeat subscriber growth even as the boost from its passwordsharing crackdown wanes.

The company, widely seen as the winner of Hollywood39;s streaming wars, saw its stock rise nearly 10 and was set to add more than 28 billion to its market value of about 295 billion, if gains hold.

It topped estimates for quarterly subscriber additions by more than 1 million and projected higher signups sequentially for the last three months of the year when South Korean drama Squid Game returns.

The company39;s profit and revenue also beat estimates, a positive sign for its efforts to shift investor focus away from subscriber growth amid what some analysts see as an inevitable slowdown in signups after the success of its passwordsharing curbs.

The 5.1 million users Netflix added in the third quarter were below the 8.76 million additions in the yearago period.

The third quarter showed the slowdown in subscriber growth that we39;ve been expecting, but Netflix has other areas of opportunity to continue boosting its financial performance, Morningstar analyst Matthew Dolgin said.

Part of the push includes price increases. After…