Play Video Netflix shares are plunging, but one top technician says this is a chance to buy
Investors have been pressing the sell button on Netflix, but one technical analyst says this is an opportunity to buy the stock on sale.
Shares of Netflix were rallying nearly 2 percent Tuesday, but the stock is still in a correction, down around 15 percent from its June high. The streaming giant is now one of the worst performers in the S&P 500 communication services sector so far this month after a meteoric rise to start the year.
While the decline is a departure from the monster returns to which Netflix shareholders are accustomed — the stock rocketed around 100 percent higher in the first six months of the year — this downside shouldn't turn investors bearish just yet, said Ari Wald, head of technical analysis at Oppenheimer.
"What's going on here is there's some rotation out of the high flyers, at least from a near-term basis, the stock is one of the worst performers month to date ... still one of the better performers year to date," Wald said Monday on CNBC's "Trading Nation."
"Looking at a chart of Netflix, here's a stock still making higher lows and higher highs, still above a rising 200-day moving average as well. We can make the case that this weakness is still within the uptrend," he said, adding the two key levels he's watching are the 200-day moving average, around $323 per share, and $311.
Other market watchers are far less optimistic about the stock.
What's weighing on the stock could be twofold, according to Gina Sanchez, CEO of Chantico Global. Competition in the streaming space is heating up across the broader media landscape, while a number of high-multiple technology stocks like Amazon and Facebook have come under pressure.
"The overall market sentiment right now, as it gets negative, it's going to go after the 'FANGs.' So you can expect that Netflix, with its huge multiple, is going to get hit. However, Netflix itself does have challenges. It's just facing a more competitive environment going forward. You have Apple, and you have Disney coming into the streaming space," Sanchez said Monday on "Trading Nation."
She has other concerns around the company's growth. While Netflix has a hefty $8 billion budget for new content, it's growing at a slower clip in the U.S., where it has a higher average revenue per user, than abroad, she noted.
"Unless that bet wins in this more competitive space, I think Netflix could be under pressure," Sanchez said.
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