NEW YORK – Netflix Inc., the online DVD rental company, said Monday its fourth-quarter revenue and subscriber figures would fall short of expectations, driving its shares 10 percent lower.

Netflix, which competes primarily with Blockbuster Inc , but also faces challenges from online video providers such as Apple Inc and Amazon.com Inc , suggested that U.S. economic turmoil has hurt subscriber growth.

Chief Financial Officer Barry McCarthy said in a statement that while net subscriber growth in July was within expectations, “August was unusually weak.”

He added, “In September, the business regained momentum with results slightly below original expectations, likely due to the economic climate.”

Netflix ended the third quarter with approximately 8.672 million subscribers, just below the low end of its previous guidance of 8.675 million to 8.875 million subscribers.

Otherwise, Netflix said income and revenue should be within its previous guidance for the third quarter.

But the fourth quarter should see weaker revenue and subscriber growth than previously thought, the company said.

It is now forecasting revenue of $353 million to $359 million for the quarter, down from the prior estimate of $357 million to $367 million. Subscribers are expected to total 8.95 million to 9.25 million, down from 9.1 million to 9.7 million.

Yet the company said its earnings per share should range between 30 cents and 38 cents a share for the fourth quarter, which is up slightly from 29 cents to 37 cents previously forecast.

Shares of the company fell about 10 percent in pre-market trade.

(Reporting by Paul Thomasch; Editing by Derek Caney, Dave Zimmerman)