Shares of Netflix (NFLX) are rising after a SunTrust analyst upgraded the stock to Buy citing stock price pullback.
UPGRADE: SunTrust analyst Matthew Thornton upgraded Netflix to Buy from Hold while lowering his price target to $410 from $415, saying the pullback after the second quarter subscriber miss was driven in part by the interest in World Cup viewing. The analyst stated that his third-quarter domestic and international Tracker through July suggest subscription gains are “solidly in line or ahead” of expectations. Thornton also pointed to the recent price increases in Japan, positive subscriber trends from app store billing tests, and a positive response to Netflix’s original series in the India markets. The analyst added that he sees potential catalysts around additional partnerships and tactical price. Furthermore, Netflix has opportunities around intellectual property licensing for consumer products/services and content licensing as well as long-term optionality around pricing points, product placement, box office and password sharing, according to Thornton.
WHAT’S NOTABLE: On Tuesday, TechCrunch reported that Netflix is “testing the iTunes payment method” in 33 countries. In particular, the streaming giant is testing how to bypass Apple’s (AAPL) iTunes, the report noted. Until September 30, new or lapsed subscribers in selected markets across Europe, Latin America, and Asia will no longer be able to pay for Netflix using iTunes, and will instead get redirected to the mobile web version to log payment details directly with Netflix. Following the report, Imperial Capital analyst David Miller said he believes the experiment likely implies upside to third quarter international subscriber guidance. The analyst said he has a tough time believing that Netflix would “experiment” with billing infrastructure mid-quarter if it did not believe that its international subscriber levels were trending ahead of guidance. As such, Miller raised his third-quarter international subscriber estimate to 4.46M from 4.35M. In Netflix’s quest to expand margins within the international bucket, eliminating the fees it pays to Apple for acting as “gatekeeper” within the confines of the app store is a top priority, the analyst added. He kept an Outperform rating on Netflix with a $494 price target.
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