LOS ANGELES — Netflix announced a deal on Monday to air television programming from DreamWorks Animation in what the company described as its biggest transaction ever for original first-run content.

Though financial details were not disclosed, Netflix said the agreement includes more than 300 hours of new TV episodes in a multiyear deal starting in 2014.

The transaction is a major coup for both companies. It helps Netflix compete with pay TV channels such as HBO and Showtime, and it gives DreamWorks a potentially lucrative outlet for its shows as it tries to shed its reliance on two or three big-budget movies each year.

“This is arguably a groundbreaking deal,” said Tuna Amobi, a Standard & Poor’s equity analyst who covers both Netflix and DreamWorks Animation.

While concerns remain about how much the deal will cost Netflix in the end, the company said it is a global deal that will allow it to debut the original series in the 40 countries where Netflix operates. That could help spread the costs over more territories and more subscribers if Netflix continues to grow overseas.

“The big question is if this is going to be an international catalyst in terms of subscriber growth,” Amobi said.

Investors hailed the deal as a win-win. Netflix shares rose $15.70, or 7.3 percent, to close at $229.69 on Monday, while DreamWorks shares rose 92 cents, or 4 percent, to close at $23.73.

As part of the arrangement, Netflix doubled down on original children’s programming, hoping to strengthen its push to become a family entertainment brand. The new content should ease some of the pain of losing a range of shows from Viacom’s Nickelodeon network, including future episodes of “Dora the Explorer,” which Amazon.com snapped up for its streaming service in early June.

The deal suggests DreamWorks will significantly ramp up its production of TV shows. Currently, it only produces “Dragons: Riders of Berk” for Cartoon Network, which completed a run of 20 episodes at 23 minutes each — less than 8 hours of content — in March.

A second season of “Dragons” is set for release in the fall, and Netflix had already contracted with DreamWorks for a series based on its upcoming film, “Turbo.”