New York

THE fourth-quarter results from Netflix paint two different pictures of the company: one achieving record global growth, the other facing a slowdown in the United States, where its already high penetration is making it increasingly difficult to add new subscribers.

The company announced on Tuesday that it had topped expectations in adding a record 5.59 million total streaming members during the quarter, for a total 74.76 million across the globe. The success of the original series Narcos and Marvel's Jessica Jones helped to fuel growth. Netflix said that it expected to add 6.1 million members during the current quarter.