2017 was a typically unruffled year for the streaming giant. Opening at $125.63 the stock eventually managed to cross $200 for the first time in its history in mid-October. And while it couldn’t quite finish the year at that level, its closing price of $192.05 still marked a whopping 53% increase across 12 months.
If that sounds impressive, Netflix has only sped up in 2018. Fuelled by January’s fourth quarter reports, the stock found its way to an all-time high of $334.30 by early March. It’s pulled back a bit since then, though at a current trading price of $311.64. Netflix is still up 60% in the new year.
Those aforementioned Q4 figures were, as ever, eye-catching. The headline figure was a remarkable 8.33 million new subscribers for the 3 months to the end of December, lightyears away from the 6.39 million addition forecast by analysts. Elsewhere earnings per share arrived bang on expectations at 41 cents, a huge increase on the previous year’s 15 cents per share, while revenue rose 32.6% to a smidge higher than estimated $3.29 billion.
In terms of its first quarter forecasts, Netflix stated back in January that its EPS would hit 63 cents, a sizeable increase on Q1 2017’s 40 cents per share, with revenue jumping 40% to $3.69 million. As for net subscribers, the company is expected to add another 6.5 million, a 32% improvement on the number of new customers added in the same quarter a year ago.
With investors always looking forwards, Netflix’s forecasts for its second quarter may be just as important as its results for the first. There analysts are speculating that the company will announce a target of 5.6 million net new subscribers in Q2 2018.
Netflix Inc (NASDAQ:NFLX) has a consensus rating of ‘Buy’ alongside an average target price of $265.50.
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