Will 'House Of Cards' Season 3 Mean Big Profits For Netflix Shareholders?

Shares of Netflix, Inc. NFLX have surged 42 percent in the past month after the company’s blowout Q4 earnings report in January.

Now that the release of the third season of the company’s original series "House of Cards" is less than three weeks away, will the hit show propel the stock even higher?

Shareholders are hopeful that the answer is yes.

A Major Success

According to Procera, the popularity of "House of Cards" grew in a big way prior to the release of the show’s second season. According to Procera, only two percent of Netflix users watched at least one episode of the show when season one launched in 2013.

When season two was released last year, 16 percent of Netflix users watched at least one episode of the show on its release date.

Aggressive Marketing

One of the surprises in Netflix’s recent earnings report was how much money the company spent on marketing. Netflix spent more than $203 million on marketing during the quarter, including major promotion of its new original series "Marco Polo."

That number represented a whopping 59 percent year-over year increase in marketing expenses.

If Netflix plans on opening up its wallet once again to promote the upcoming "House of Cards" premier, the popularity of season three could outshine even the surprising success of season two.

How Netflix And Amazon Are Changing Hollywood

Will The Stock React?

Regardless of how well-received the new season of "House of Cards" will be, it seems unlikely there will be a directly-related move in Netflix share price. In the month flowing the release of season one of the show, the volatile Netflix stock surged nearly 15 percent.

However, in the month following the surprise success of season two, the stock fell by more than 2 percent.