Netflix Inc.NFLXDON'T BUYJun 22, 2018Stock price when the opinion was issued
As of Jun 05, 2026. Market Open.
It reported after the bell yesterday. It reported a monster beat in paid subscribers and revenue beat, sales up 12.5% YOY, and the second straight quarter of accelerating revenue growth. Netflix is mature and the operating margin was strong, but missed earnings because of a one-time tax hit that nobody cared about. Guidance was mixed: sales was light and operating income much better. The 13.1 million paid net subs additions was due to the password crackdown and offering an ad-supported tier (with target ads). This remains an exciting story. The company expects double-digit growth. Despite that, some analysts have downgraded the stock, noting that it's too early to count on the ad-supported tier to deliver meaningful revenues. However, he maintains that Americans may take Netflix for granted, but there's still a lot of room to grow internationally. Plus, the ad tire has been successful, which suggests that there is room to grow in the U.S. The company continues to prove its profitability and cash flow. Also, one of those analysts has always called Netflix wrong. And they have content from around the globe, another plus. It seems pricey at 32x PE, but it's worth it.
They continue to execute by delivering new content. They leverage foreign content with amazing dubbing to present to North American audiences. Their subscription rates continue to go up. It's clearly the #1 streamer. But they spend a lot on content, and the PE of 40x is too high for him. Fears of Disney+ overtaking them never happened.
He targets $463, so a decent runway ahead. Will raise rates. They're talking to Trade Desk and Comcast. NFLX has 238 million subs in 190 countries, but big growth is coming outside North America. Password crackdown paid off, because subscriptions have risen (6 million increase). They added a videogame company which helped. Would still buy it.
Stock soared on last week's report: strong in-lines sales and profit margin meant an EPS beat, and raised their full-year operating margin guidance and strong 2024 forecast. Also are generating crazy cash flow, and rising global subscriber growth, beating expectations (the third straight quarter of growth), helped by password crackdowns. Will raise rates in the US, UK and other territories. Despite the rally, he still recommends it because it's still below July's high and trades at 25x PE 2024.
He has trouble with the valuation. Their new content spend will exceed that of Disney, with the expectation of $10 billion to be spent in the next year. Their subscriber fees will continue to do well; however, competition is on the way with Apple, Google and Amazon.