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Reed Hastings, CEO of Netflix
Several Wall Street firms are downplaying Netflix’s big subscriber miss, remaining optimistic over the company’s attractive long term prospects.
On Monday the company reported its second-quarter financial results. Netflix added 5.15 million memberships during the quarter missing the Wall Street consensus of 6.34 million.
Bank of America Merrill Lynch believes Netflix will return to beating subscriber expectations again due to the company's history.
“While 2Q results may take some of the wind out of Netflix’s sails near-term, we do not think 2Q is a sign growth is slowing overall and we think Netflix still has large runway for growth left,” analyst Nat Schindler said in a note to clients Monday. “Netflix never misses twice … Historically, following a net adds miss, Netflix tends to set guidance cautiously and deliver large beats in the following quarters.”
Schindler reiterated his buy rating and lowered his price target for Netflix shares to $410 from $460.
Netflix shares are down 12.6 percent in Tuesday’s premarket session, a day after its earnings report. The streaming giant is one of the market's best-performing names so far this year as its shares have rallied 109 percent through Monday versus the S&P 500's 5 percent return.
J.P. Morgan told its clients to take advantage of the dip in the Netflix share price.
“Overall, while 2Q net adds and the 3Q outlook are disappointing, we do not believe they reflect a fundamental change in the Netflix story,” analyst Doug Anmuth said in a note to clients Tuesday. “We recognize that Netflix shares could be under additional pressure … However, we believe the pullback will prove to be a compelling buying opportunity.”
Anmuth reaffirmed his overweight rating and raised his price target to $415 from $385 for Netflix shares.
Stifel is using the drop in Netflix shares to raise its rating to buy from hold due to the strength of the company’s content pipeline the rest of the year.
“With the potential for near-term sub add expectations to reset, a strong 2H content slate, and a domestic and international runway which supports a doubling of the company’s subscriber base in the next five to ten years, we are upgrading shares of Netflix,” analyst Scott Devitt said in a note to clients Tuesday.
Devitt reiterated his $406 price forecast for Netflix shares.
To be sure, not every analyst is staying positive on the company. Deutsche Bank lowered its rating for Netflix shares to hold from buy on Tuesday, citing its "slowdown in growth."
