Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) Cut to Hold at Needham & Company LLC

Needham & Company LLC cut shares of Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Wednesday, MarketBeat.com reports.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on the stock. Rothschild & Co Redburn reduced their price objective on shares of Netflix from $120.00 to $93.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Barclays set a $70.00 target price on shares of Netflix and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 7th. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $90.00 target price on shares of Netflix in a research note on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of Netflix from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $80.00 to $57.00 in a research report on Friday, September 18th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “reduce” rating on shares of Netflix in a research report on Wednesday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have given a Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Netflix presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $89.59.

Netflix Stock Down 1.8%

Shares of NFLX stock opened at $65.85 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $270.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.62. Netflix has a one year low of $64.10 and a one year high of $116.73. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $74.27 and a 200 day moving average price of $79.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.14.

Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 20th. The Internet television network reported $0.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $12.87 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.87 billion. Netflix had a net margin of 29.69% and a return on equity of 42.69%. The business’s revenue was up 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.59 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Netflix will post 3.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Gregory K. Peters sold 27,312 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.54, for a total value of $2,008,524.48. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 120,931 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,893,265.74. The trade was a 18.42% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Richard N. Barton sold 2,160 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.10, for a total transaction of $162,216.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 246 shares in the company, valued at $18,474.60. This represents a 89.78% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 179,045 shares of company stock valued at $13,132,194. 1.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Netflix

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in NFLX. Merkkuri Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Netflix during the first quarter worth approximately $31,000. Bayban raised its stake in shares of Netflix by 400.0% in the first quarter. Bayban now owns 350 shares of the Internet television network’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 280 shares during the last quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd bought a new position in shares of Netflix in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Sawyer & Company Inc acquired a new position in shares of Netflix in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, Compound Global Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Netflix in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Netflix News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Netflix this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Netflix reported third-quarter EPS of $0.87, ahead of the $0.82 consensus estimate, while revenue reached $12.87 billion. Operating margin rose to 34.6%, supporting the argument that the core streaming business remains highly profitable. Can Netflix Stock Hold Margin Gains as Content Spending Keeps Growing?
• Positive Sentiment: Longer-term bulls argue that Netflix’s profitability, systematic share repurchases, local-language content, and continued subscriber retention could create meaningful upside after the sell-off. Bill Ackman has also returned to the stock and expects annualized returns above 20%. Bill Ackman Lost $400 Million on Netflix
• Positive Sentiment: Ark Invest’s Cathie Wood bought 18,000 Netflix shares, signaling that some growth-oriented investors view the two-year-low valuation as an opportunity. Cathie Wood Just Bought Netflix Stock
• Neutral Sentiment: Netflix is reportedly planning layoffs at its Bay Area headquarters. The cuts could reduce costs, but they also raise questions about operating priorities and employee productivity. Netflix Stock Slips as Layoffs Hit Bay Area Headquarters
• Neutral Sentiment: Paramount Skydance’s completed merger highlights intensifying competition for scale and content across the entertainment industry, potentially increasing pressure on Netflix to sustain its content advantage. Could Skydance Be Bigger Than Disney?
• Negative Sentiment: Management reduced its 2026 advertising-revenue outlook to approximately $2.7 billion from about $3 billion. Softer ad growth undermines a major part of Netflix’s expansion thesis and overshadowed the earnings beat. Netflix Cut Its 2026 Ad Forecast by $300 Million
• Negative Sentiment: Disappointing fourth-quarter revenue guidance and decelerating growth have led investors to discount the strong quarterly results. Netflix’s reduced 2026 free-cash-flow outlook is another concern as content spending continues to rise. Netflix Has Lower FCF Guidance
• Negative Sentiment: Several analysts lowered their price targets or ratings after the report. One fair-value estimate fell from $92.62 to $86.24, while UBS, Guggenheim, and Needham adopted more cautious views. Netflix Stock Fair Value Falls After Cautious Q3 Analyst Revisions
• Negative Sentiment: Reports indicate viewing time is declining even though subscribers are staying, suggesting weaker engagement. YouTube and lower-cost streaming alternatives may also be contributing to slower revenue growth. Netflix Is Losing Viewers

About Netflix

Netflix, Inc (NASDAQ:NFLX) is a global entertainment company that provides subscription-based streaming services. Its platform offers a broad selection of television series, films, documentaries, stand-up specials and other programming, including content produced by Netflix and licensed from third-party studios and creators.

The company also develops and distributes original productions under the Netflix brand and has expanded into additional entertainment offerings, including mobile and cloud-based games in select markets and live programming.