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STORY: Hit shows like ‘Bridgerton’ helped Netflix beat targets in the second quarter.

The streaming giant said Thursday it added 8 million subscribers - easily beating the 5 million predicted by analysts.

However, the company is facing saturation in the U.S., and plans to stop reporting subscriber additions next year.

That puts the focus on its ad business instead, and the picture there is more uncertain.

Netflix warned that advertising wouldn’t become a main driver of revenue growth until least 2026.

Talking to analysts, Chief Financial Officer Spencer Neumann said ad sales were “growing nicely”, but from a small base.

For the April to June quarter, Netflix posted earnings of $4.88 per share, beating forecasts.

Revenue came in at just below $10 billion, matching predictions.

The company warned that subscriber growth in the third quarter would be lower than the same time last year, when it had just started to crack down on password sharing.

Netflix stock gained 1% in U.S. after-hours trade, and is up around a third this year.