Since its debut in 1999, Netflix has grown enormously. The company rose to success with its by-mail DVD rental service. Its Canadian streaming-only service has been a hit and is on track to becoming profitable late next year. This has encouraged the company to test the model on other markets.

It recently announced that it may add a streaming-only service in the US this year as part of its expanding reach in the digital market.

Netflix CEO Reed Hastings said: “Three years ago we were a DVD-by-mail company that offered some streaming. We are now a streaming company, which also offers DVD-by-mail.”

Things are looking so positive, in fact, that Mr. Hastings speculates on pure streaming becoming Netflix’s core offering in the US, with discs being offered as a supplement for an additional charge.

The company’s shares have gained substantially since a 2002 IPO. The shares jumped more than 9 percentage points after its better-than-expected third-quarter subscriber growth statistics were posted.

Despite this success, however, concerns persist about the rising cost of paying studios to stream more movies and TV shows. This comes as a result from intensifying competition and lofty-looking share valuations.

Nevertheless, the company expects to end the quarter with 19 million subscribers, and expects to generate between $586 and $598 million in revenues.