Despite the streaming giant falling 24.22% year-to-date (YTD) and crashing 6.87% to $68.95 in the last week, Wall Street has remained largely bullish on Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX) stock.
The latest example of the trend came on July 20 when Phillip Securities analyst Helena Wang retained her previous $110 12-month price target for NFLX shares but, within a generally optimistic note, upgraded the equity’s rating to ‘Buy.’
According to the Wall Street expert, Netflix boasts resilient pricing power, expanding advertising monetization, industry-leading profitability, and healthy membership: all factors backing the view that the streaming giant’s shares are worth investing in, especially at the current and attractive valuation.
Analysts predict Netflix stock price in the next 12 months
Zooming out, institutional analysts have generally remained optimistic toward NFLX equity despite its stock market woes. Overall, Netflix shares are regarded as a ‘Moderate Buy’ with 22 experts giving it a positive recommendation and 9 proving ‘Neutral.’
At press time on July 20, there are no NFLX stock ‘Sell’ ratings, and the asset is, on average, expected to rally 38.61% to $95.57 in the next 12 months, per the data Finbold retrieved from TipRanks.
Furthermore, only three prominent analysts rated Netflix as a ‘Hold’ following the latest earnings report. Still, despite the bullshness, multiple Wall Street experts reduced their 12-month stock price targets despite retaining ‘Buy’ recommendations.
Piper Sandler’s Thomas Champion was responsible for the steepest of these reductions when he dropped his forecast from $115 to $85 – from a 66.79% predicted rally to 23.28% – on July 17.
Netflix stock price performance
Meanwhile, investors proved nowhere near as favorable toward Netflix stock as Wall Street in the aftermath of the earnings. Specifically, the equity collapsed 12.28% from 74.35% to $65.24 shortly after the July 16 closing bell, and even the subsequent recovery took it no higher than $68.95.
At press time in the July 20 pre-market, NFLX shares are an additional 0.81% down and changing hands at $68.39.
Featured image via Shutterstock
