Fan Fare

Note to Netflix: There’s a recession on

 Netflix Inc <NFLX.O> apparently didn’t get the memo: there’s a recession on.

The online DVD rental company is aiming for “at least” 12 percent net earnings growth in 2009 and will invest any “surplus profit” — terms not heard much on Wall Street these days — in growing its subscriber base and streaming content, Chief Executive Reed Hastings told investors on Monday.

The comments, made amid a storm of bad news from other U.S. media companies, came as the Los Gatos, California company posted a 45 percent rise in quarterly profit that even its own executives weren’t expecting.

“Our October forecast of slowing growth turned out to be wrong,” Netflix CFO Barry McCarthy admitted on a conference call with analysts. “We continue to see strong momentum in our business, quarter to date.”