NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Netflix's first-quarter financials came in better than expected after a dismal 2011, but it wasn't enough for investors to overlook a weak revenue outlook.
Netflix announced late Monday that it lost 8 cents per share on $870 million in sales last quarter. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected a much wider loss of 27 cents per share, and sales of $866 million.
But shares plunged 14% in after-hours trading. Investors were likely disappointed by Netflix's sales outlook of $873 million to $895 million for the second quarter, lower than analysts' forecasts of $897 million.
Netflix did have some good news for the first quarter.
In addition to the smaller-than-expected loss, Netflix also added new U.S. streaming subscribers at a rapid clip: More than 1.7 million signed on in the first quarter, for a total of 23.41 million.
International: Overseas streaming subscribers jumped to nearly 3.1 million, up 1.2 million from last quarter. But the number of U.S. DVD subscribers fell to about 10.1 million, down from almost 11.2 million in the fourth quarter.
Another spot of good news: Netflix said it may a profit again in the second quarter. The company didn't rule out a loss, but its forecast ranged from a loss of 10 cents a share to a profit of 14 cents a share.
Previously, the company had warned its investments in new overseas markets would take a huge bite out of earnings and make the company unprofitable for all of 2012.
Netflix didn't break out numbers for each of its international markets, but the company said the UK and Ireland "had substantially more members" after three months than Canada or Latin America did after the same period of time.
Netflix will launch in a new overseas market in the fourth quarter, but it didn't say where that will be.
Netflix (NFLX) shares fell 4% in regular trading Monday. However, they are still up a whopping 47% this year after a roller coaster 2011.
Terrible 2011: Netflix was once the company that could do no wrong, in the eyes of customers and investors.
But 2011 was a year full of missteps that eroded both Netflix's reputation and market value. The troubles began in September, when Netflix hiked prices by 60% for customers subscribing to both Netflix's DVD and streaming business. In the third quarter of 2011, the company's U.S. subscriber base fell for the first time in years.
Then, Netflix stunned customers when it said it would rename its DVD business Qwikster and separate that business from the more lucrative streaming. Customers raged so much that Netflix scrapped the idea less than a month later.
CEO Reed Hastings later said the miscues were a result of the company becoming "overconfident."
Beyond those two public-relations nightmares, Netflix is also being forced to shell out more cash to retain its catalog.
Studios are demanding that Netflix pay them more money for their content, and not all of those negotiations are working. Netflix was unable to renew its contract with Starz, a key content supplier. The Liberty Media (LMCA)-owned cable company has a large chunk of Disney (DIS, Fortune 500) movies that are now no longer in Netflix's catalog.
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