Netflix Stock Hits $38 Per Share, A Multi-Year High

It's been a wild ride for Netflix shareholders over the past few years (see the Google Finance chart below), and today Netflix hit $38 per share. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Netflix to a "Buy" with a new target of $41 per share (up from $24 per share).

The firm says Blockbuster's (NYSE: BBI) recent initiatives to refocus on the profitability of its retail operations has created a significant window of opportunity for Netflix. Cantor cites Netflix's competitive advantages as scale, logistics expertise, and usage data, and believes that the market is not yet pricing in the possibility of this window being open for "a significantly longer period of time" than previously expected.

Cantor notes that Netflix currently has about 30% or more of its float shorted, possibly suggesting that the Company's uptrend could be intensified by a short squeeze.

Disclosure: I do not own shares of Netflix or Blockbuster.

Comments

[Edward R Murrow]

Something is rotten in Denmark when analysts upgrade a security and every single officer is selling shares like rats leaving a stinking ship:
http://www.form4oracle.com/company?cik=0001065280&ticker=nflx

Can anyone mention a company in a similar situation?

Besides, what happens to DVD when the 3G iPhone comes out and Apple (potentially) offers an unlimited monthly subscription plan for movie content delivered wirelessly to the 3G iPhone?

[Scooby]

Ah yes Ed, CLEARLY watching movies on the tiny screen of a device most of us do not possess is a huge threat to renting Netflix movies. That I watch on my 8 ft wide screen.

(And btw, the 'unlimited' plan is just pure speculation at this point. And it's speculation for their *music* store. But nice try.)

[Edward R Murrow]

Scooby hasn't heard of Apple TV or the cable that plugs into the iPhone, iPod, iTouch that connects to my Pioneer Elite 60 inch plasma:
http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/PUSA/Products/HomeEntertainment/PlasmaTVs+Monitors/EliteTVs/ci.PRO-150FD.Kuro

[Scooby]

??

You never mentioned the AppleTV, which by the way even fewer of us have.

As for plugging your ipod into your 60 inch plasma - good for you, I bet the quality's outstanding.

In any case:
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/mar2008/tc20080319_503917.htm?campaign_id=rss_daily

Don't hold your breath.

Just curious; are you a netflix user? If yes, why do you seem to eager to see them fail? If no, why do you care?

[Scooby]

Links don't display correctly. Let's try this:

http://digg.com/music/Unlimited_Tunes_from_Apple_Not_So_Fast_2

[Edward R Murrow]

"If yes, why do you seem to eager to see them fail?"

The Moonies fizzled out, People's Temple drank the Koolaid and the Hari Krishnas can't hang out at the airports anymore. I don't want to see NFLX fail - I'd have to find another religious cult to goof on.

[eviltimes]

Mike, is it possible to block trolls?

[Scooby]

Oh wow. Just wow.

eviltimes: now I feel silly for feeding it in the first place :-(

[eviltimes]

Little chocolate donuts...

btw, I tripled my investment, and sold it all yesterday.

[Edward R Murrow]

We all love free speech as long as the speaker always agrees with us.

Just a thought - you know that they don't have free speech in Communist China...

[ed murrow hates netflix]

ed murrow, your idea of free speech is about as open-minded as the "god hates fags" church nuts protesting at soldiers funerals.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westboro_Baptist_Church

[leonardodicrapio]

"Mike, is it possible to block trolls?"

My guess is Mike probably cannot because Ed Murrow has been posting the same tired stuff for years. BTW, Ed doesn't have a 60" Pro-F150 Pioneer (which sells for $6,049 or more), either. If Ed had a $6,049 HDTV, he wouldn't gripe about throttling so much, and he would just pay an extra $7 per month to upgrade from a 3-Out Netflix plan to a 4-Out Netflix plan. But if you want to believe that Ed blows 6 GRAND on a TV but complains about $7 per month, then you are entitled to your own opinion about that boy (Ed).

http://www.google.com/products?hl=en&q=60%22+PRO-150FD+Kuro&scoring=p

[Edward R Murrow]

Leo finally comes up for air. Must have been a busy day for you at Netflix, fighting fires and all.

Everyone here posts an endless spew of Netflix apologetics, I try and offer the flip side of the coin and somehow I'm the trolling shill? Everyone belly up to the bar, 'cause this round of Netflix Koolaid is on me!

[leonardodicrapio]

Ed, I don't have an active Blockbuster or Netflix account right now. I have four movies at home from Blockbuster (mailers and in-store exchanges) right now, though, and I will re-up with Blockbuster early next month. BTW, I am trying to save $10-$15 per month. I have a 42" Panasonic Plasma HDTV that I paid $999.99 for, which had better blacks at the time than any of the Pioneers available in 2006.

[Scooby]

You don't "offer a flip side". You just make inflammatory (Netflix = religious cult) or nonsensical (Netflix is going to fail because of Apple) comments.

Take the hint. If it was just one person calling you a troll, that'd be one thing. But when *everyone* basically agrees re: the quality of your contributions, maybe they have a point.

If you want to civilly discuss the aspects of Netflix you don't like, I'm here. But that's not why you're here, is it?

[Don E]

With NetFlix streaming moving to more boxes (BluRay DVD players from Sony and LG), it becomes a more compelling product. There is nothing coming from Blockbuster, or Amazon to match. Right now NetFlix has the market, and is well in the lead. Once they gain enough users of streaming video they can start to monetize it and I expect profits will be heading up.