Netflix stock received a downgrade and two price-target hikes since yesterday's close
Shares of Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) are lower in early trading as investors digest contrasting analyst notes on the stock following last night's close. Canaccord Genuity hiked its price target on the streaming giant to $500 from $350, an almost 43% lift, citing an expectation for increasing subscriber growth.
The analyst updates continued into the early hours of the morning, when UBS analyst Eric Sheridan downgraded NFLX to "neutral" from "buy," and upped his price target to $425 from $375. Sheridan said the stock's valuation is "less compelling" and holds a roughly breakeven risk/reward outcome. Overall, analyst attention has been quite bullish toward Netflix stock, with 21 of 32 brokerage firms sporting "buy" or better ratings.
At last check, Netflix stock is 0.7% lower at $415.93. Such a pullback is of course just a drop in the bucket, however, with the shares still up 118% year-to-date. NFLX has been an outperformer since early 2016, and touched a fresh record high of $423.21 on June 21.
Short interest on the FAANG concern fell 2.2% during the past two reporting periods, and now represents 4.6% of the stock's total available float. At average daily trading volume, it would take just over two days for shorts to cover their bearish bets.