Netflix $NFLX – Stock Market Research, Option Picks, Stock Picks,Financial News,Option Research

February 8, 2023February 8, 2023

Netflix Outlines Methods to Stop Credential Sharing

Netflix provides update on sharing guidelines as 100M households share accounts

In an “update on sharing,” Netflix (NFLX) said that,

“Today, over 100 million households are sharing accounts – impacting our ability to invest in great new TV and films.

So over the last year, we’ve been exploring different approaches to address this issue in Latin America, and we’re now ready to roll them out more broadly in the coming months, starting today in Canada, New Zealand, Portugal and Spain.

Our focus has been on giving members greater control over who can access their account.

Set primary location: We’ll help members set this up, ensuring that anyone who lives in their household can use their Netflix account.

Manage account access and devices: Members can now easily manage who has access to their account from our new Manage Access and Devices page.

Transfer profile: People using an account can now easily transfer a profile to a new account, which they pay for – keeping their personalized recommendations, viewing history, My List, saved games and more.

Watch while you travel: Members can still easily watch Netflix on their personal devices or log into a new TV, like at a hotel or holiday rental.

Buy an extra member: Members on our Standard or Premium plan in many countries (including Canada, New Zealand, Portugal and Spain) can add an extra member sub account for up to two people they don’t live with – each with a profile, personalized recommendations, login and password – for an extra CAD$7.99 a month per person in Canada, NZD$7.99 in New Zealand, Euro 3.99 in Portugal, and Euro 5.99 in Spain.”

NFLX is up $1.26 to $364.15.

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This article does not constitute investment advice. Each reader is encouraged to consult with his or her individual financial professional and any action a reader takes as a result of information presented here is his or her own responsibility.

June 19, 2020June 18, 2020

AMC Theatres to open in July

AMC to reopen 450 U.S. theaters on July 15

Beginning July 15, AMC will resume operations of 450 U.S. theatres as part of a phased plan that is expected to bring the 600-plus U.S. theatre circuit to nearly full operation leading into the opening of MULAN on July 24 and TENET on July 31.

Adam Aron, CEO & President, AMC Theatres, said, “After a painful almost four-month hiatus due to the coronavirus, we are delighted to announce that movies are coming back to the big screen at AMC.

Our next 100 years of making smiles happen officially begin at approximately 450 theatres across the United States on July 15. I cannot emphasize enough how much care and attention to detail we have taken in developing AMC Safe & Clean, our absolute commitment to optimizing the health and safety of our theatres for our guests and associates.

Remember that there is a rumor that Amazon may buy AMC

Developed along with The Clorox Company, and current and former faculty of Harvard University’s School of Public Health, AMC Safe & Clean represents a comprehensive commitment with a broad array of tools being used in sanitizing our theatres.

Social distancing, reduced seat capacity, greatly intensified cleaning regimens, new employee health protocols, contactless ticketing and mobile food & beverage ordering are all part of AMC Safe & Clean.

So too is a new multimillion-dollar commitment to implementing high tech solutions in making AMC theatres safe, including deploying electrostatic sprayers, HEPA vacuums and upgraded MERV 13 ventilation filters.

All this is being put into motion because at AMC our single highest priority is the health and safety of our guests and associates. Both personally and professionally, I couldn’t be more excited for what this means for movie lovers.”

In the coming weeks, theatre teams will begin returning to their theatres for training on AMC’s new, enhanced cleaning and safety procedures.

AMC expects that almost all its 600-plus U.S. locations will be open and in operation for the launch of MULAN on July 24 and TENET on July 31.

The resumption of AMC operations may be adjusted if there are changes to the current theatrical release schedule, or as needed in response to local or regional conditions.

To facilitate proper social distancing within theatre auditoriums, AMC will approach seat capacity limitations in four distinct phases. But AMC will always follow all federal, state and local directives, including those that mandate a maximum capacity if lower than those envisioned in AMC’s four phases as now planned.

The reopening schedule for specific theatres will be communicated in early July. During the weeks leading up to new major theatrical releases, AMC will be showing popular repertory titles made available from its studio partners. Those titles and ticket price information will be announced prior to reopening.

AMC closed at $5.63.

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May 11, 2020

Amazon may buy AMC Movie Theatres

As AMC considers bankruptcy, Amazon may snap up the company

Amazon.com (AMZN) has held talks to acquire the troubled movie chain AMC Entertainment Holdings (AMC), but it is unclear if the discussions are still active, Jamie Nimmo of Daily Mail reports, citing sources.

The companies are thought to have held talks about a potential takeover of AMC by Amazon, the sources said.

Buying a cinema chain would enable Amazon to control the screening of films, giving it greater dominance of the industry. Amazon’s interest in cinemas is not new.

In 2018, Amazon looked at buying American arthouse cinema chain Landmark Theatres, but lost out to the eventual buyer, Cohen Media Group. Netflix was also reportedly in the running to buy Landmark.

Amazon.com is in talks to buy AMC, Stockwinners

However, a takeover of AMC would be on a different scale as Landmark only had about 250 screens in the US, while AMC has about 1,000 around the world.

Amazon certainly has the means to buy AMC, whose stock market value has collapsed in recent years to just $420million.

In a sign of bad times in the movie business, earlier this month AMC Theatres (AMC) sent a letter to Universal Studios (CMCSA) chairman Donna Langley, saying that, going forward, AMC will not license any Universal films in any of its 1,000 globally effective immediately.

Amazon bought supermarket chain Whole Foods Market in 2017 in a sign that the company was willing to spend money buying non-web-based companies.

Stockwinners offers stocks to buy, stocks to watch, upgrades, stock downgrades, earnings, Stocks to Avoid — Amazon bought Wholefoods in 2017

AMC was bought by Chinese conglomerate Dalian Wanda for $2.6 billion in 2012, but it bought back $600 million worth of shares in 2018 after Beijing cracked down on overseas investments by Chinese companies.

Under Wanda, AMC launched a major expansion plan, and in 2016 bought Odeon in the UK for £920 million from British financier Guy Hands’ private equity firm, Terra Firma, and US group Carmike Cinemas for $1.1 billion.

The deals turned AMC into the world’s largest cinema company, with 1,000 outlets and 10,000 screens around the world.

However, the expansion plan backfired and left AMC saddled with debts that are now close to $ 5billion. Last month, AMC raised $500 million from bond investors in an effort to stay afloat during the crisis.

However, investors still questioned whether AMC could avoid bankruptcy, given its parlous financial state.

A group of AMC’s lenders reportedly hired lawyers to advise on restructuring options last month, underlining AMC’s financial strife.

In Monday’s pre-market trading, AMC shares are up 70% to $7.00. AMZN closed at $2379.61.

Read our blog about AMC.

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January 2, 2020

RBC Capital’s predictions for 2020

Accelerating Netflix subs, Uber profitability among RBC’s top 10 surprise list

RBC Capital analyst Mark Mahaney compiled a broader research note titled “Top Ten Internet Surprises for 2020” list, in which he assigns a “reasonable chance” of 30% or more for the following to occur against the “average internet investor” expectations of the event being improbable.

Disney loss having minimal impact on Netflix subscribers. See Stockwinners.com Market Radar to read more — RBC expects subs accelerating in 2020, Stockwinners

1) Netflix (NFLX) subscriber additions may accelerate because the company will be comping 2019’s “material price increase and a dramatic slowdown in marketing spending.
2) Google’s (GOOGL) operating margins may be flat to up as its Google Cloud becomes a smaller margin drag and the company’s Other Bets division gets greater investment after the resignation of its founders.
3) Uber (UBER) and Lyft (LYFT) achieve EBITDA profitability thanks “insurance expense leverage, driver and rider subsidies rationalization, pricing actions, and growth leverage”.
4) Amazon’s (AMZN) profitability plummets as the company continues its “aggressive investment” in shipping and fulfillment, particularly internationally, while continuing the build-out of AWS salesforce.
5) Maturing growth rates and large cash piles may see Google, Facebook (FB), and Booking.com (BKNG) become dividend payers in the internet sector.
6) Spotify (SPOT) gross margins may expand as the company concludes its music label negotiations.

RBC Capital Markets is a global investment bank providing services in banking, finance and capital markets to corporations, institutional investors, asset managers and governments globally. Locations span 70 offices in 15 countries across North America, the UK, Europe and the Asia-Pacific region.

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August 13, 2019

CBS and Viacom to merge

CBS, Viacom to combine in all-stock merger to create ViacomCBS

CBS Corp. (CBS) and Viacom (VIA, VIAB) announced they have entered into a definitive agreement to combine in an all-stock merger, creating a combined company with more than $28B in revenue.

The combined company, ViacomCBS, “will be a leading global, multiplatform, premium content company, with the assets, capabilities and scale to be one of the most important content producers and providers in the world,” the companies stated.

**Viacom**, an acronym of Video & Audio **Com**munications to merge with CBS, Stockwinners

Bob Bakish, President and CEO, Viacom, will become President and Chief Executive Officer of the combined company.

Joe Ianniello, President and Acting CEO, CBS, will become Chairman and CEO of CBS and will oversee all CBS-branded assets in his new role.

CBS to merge with Viacom to compete with Disney, Netflix, Stockwinners

The merger agreement was approved by the boards of directors of both CBS and Viacom by unanimous vote of those present, upon the unanimous recommendations of the Special Committees of the CBS and Viacom Boards of Directors, respectively.

Existing CBS shareholders will own approximately 61% of the combined company and existing Viacom shareholders will own approximately 39% of the combined company on a fully diluted basis.

Under the terms of the merger agreement, each Viacom Class A voting share and Viacom Class B non-voting share will convert into 0.59625 of a Class A voting share and Class B non-voting share of CBS, respectively.

NAI, which holds approximately 78.9% and 79.8% of the Class A voting shares of CBS and Viacom, respectively, has agreed to deliver consents sufficient to assure approval of the transaction.

More than two-thirds of the CBS directors unaffiliated with NAI, and all of those unaffiliated directors who voted on the transaction, have approved the transaction, as required in order to permit NAI to consent to the transaction under the terms of the 2018 settlement agreement entered into among CBS, NAI and certain other parties thereto.

The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions. It is expected to close by the 2019 calendar year end.

Sumner Redstone is the majority owner and chairman of the board of the National Amusements (NAI) theater chain. Through National Amusements, Redstone and his family are majority voting shareholders of CBS Corporation and Viacom (itself the parent company of Viacom Media Networks, BET Networks, and the film studio Paramount Pictures). Redstone was formerly the executive chairman of both CBS and Viacom.

ANALYST COMMENTS

Bernstein

Bernstein analyst Todd Juenger downgraded CBS (CBS) to Underperform from Market Perform following the company’s confirmation earlier of a deal to combine in an all-stock merger with Viacom (VIAB). Any synergies produced “will pale in comparison” to inheriting Viacom’s structural problems, Juenger tells investors.

Imperial Capital

Imperial Capital analyst David Miller lowered his price target for CBS (CBS) to $62 from $72. The analyst says that while this is generally consistent with where both names had been trading for the last 90 days, the ratio is below what he had been hoping for from the Viacom side, which was a ratio of 0.7. Nonetheless, Miller keeps an Outperform rating on shares of CBS.

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July 19, 2019August 7, 2019

Netflix, a battle of bulls and bears!

Netflix lost more than $18 billion in market capitalization in 2 days

On Wednesday, Netflix (NFLX) reported 2nd Quarter June 2019 earnings of $0.60 per share on revenue of $4.9 billion. The consensus earnings estimate was $0.56 per share on revenue of $4.9 billion. Revenue grew 26.0% on a year-over-year basis.

The company said in its shareholders letter it expects third quarter earnings of approximately $1.04 per share on revenue of approximately $5.25 billion. The current consensus earnings estimate is $1.04 per share on revenue of $5.25 billion for the quarter ending September 30, 2019.

The company saw its first loss in US subscribers last quarter, and a 2.7 million paid customers added globally, nearly half of what was forecast.

Competition

At the same time, the company is facing a steeper path than ever in the United States. Netflix lost subscribers this quarter for the first time in years, a combination of the price hike and a content loss. As the US market becomes oversaturated with streaming services — with WarnerMedia, Disney, and Apple all launching streaming services — the only way to ensure growth is going outside the United States. Netflix currently has 60 million paying domestic subscribers, and company believes they can get to 90 million, but the risk of market saturation is real, and raises difficult questions for the company’s content strategy.

BMO Capital

BMO Capital analyst Daniel Salmon lowered his price target on Netflix (NFLX) to $440 after its reported shortfall on subscriber addition in Q2, which he expects to “fuel the debate” about the company’s pricing power and the role of new content. Given the sequential decline in its U.S. markets and the approaching launch of Disney+ (DIS), the analyst contends that this may be a “more than just the usual” earnings-miss driven debate. Longer term however, Salmon believes that the company’s revenue trend remains on track, keeping his Outperform rating on the stock and recommending Netflix, Amazon (AMZN), and Disney as a “collective investment” in the global streaming race.

Credit Suisse

Credit Suisse analyst Douglas Mitchelson lowered his price target for Netflix to $440 from $450 after the company posted its worst subscriber miss ever, short by 2.3M net adds, while revenue was in line and EBIT well ahead. The analyst reiterates an Outperform rating on the shares.

Disney to end Netflix distribution agreement in 2019. See Stockwinners.com Market Radar for details — Disney ended Netflix distribution agreement this year. See Stockwinners.com

Deutsche Bank

Deutsche Bank analyst Bryan Kraft views post-earnings selloff in shares of Netflix as a buying opportunity. The analyst keeps a Buy rating on the streaming service.

KeyBanc

KeyBanc analyst Andy Hargreaves says that despite soft Q2 results, he believes Netflix retains competitive advantages that should support excellent revenue and profit growth well into the future. The likely decline in the stock price improves the risk/reward, but increased confidence in the potential for upside to his estimates is likely needed for a more positive view of the shares, he contends. Hargreaves reiterates a Sector Weight rating on the shares.

WarnerMedia streaming service hurts Netflix, Stockwinners

JPMorgan

JPMorgan analyst Doug Anmuth to $425 from $450 while keeping an Overweight rating on the shares. The Q2 net adds miss was meaningful, but the company’s Q2 results are often volatile and this quarter contained a number of moving pieces, Anmuth tells investors in a research note. Netflix’s back half of the year content slate is strong and the company is seeing significantly better trends quarter-to-date, adds the analyst. History suggests that Q2 is a “difficult quarter from which to extrapolate NFLX’s trajectory,” says Anmuth.

Stifel

Stifel analyst Scott Devitt said Netflix shares may be range bound until the company reports Q3 earnings following its miss in Q2 on its domestic and international paid net sub add guidance. He believes management’s explanations for the current quarter miss “appear reasonable,” though Netflix “will have to prove, as it has done many times, that its value proposition remains one of the best,” Devitt tells investors in a post-earnings research note. Following last night’s report, Devitt lowered his price target on Netflix shares to $400 from $425 and keeps a Buy rating on the stock.

Wedbush

Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter raised his price target for Netflix to $188 from $183, while reiterating an Underperform rating on the shares after the company reported quarterly results. The analyst expects content spending to trigger substantial cash burn for many years, and notwithstanding four Netflix price increases in the last five years, he notes that cash burn continues to grow. Content migration and price hikes could cause a deceleration in subscriber growth, and consistently negative free cash flow makes DCF valuation impossible, he adds.

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July 31, 2018

MoviePass raises prices

Helios and Matheson says MoviePass accelerating plan for profitability

MoviePass, a majority-owned subsidiary of Helios and Matheson Analytics (HMNY), announced the implementation of several new measures aimed at accelerating the plan for profitability.

Through these new steps, the company believes it will be able to compress its timeline to reach profitability.

Approaching the one-year anniversary of introducing its standard $9.95 price point, the MoviePass community has grown to more than 3 million members and in turn has contributed to record box office growth, responsible for approximately 6 percent of the nation’s total box office sales in the first half of 2018.

In addition, MoviePass Ventures and MoviePass Films are contributing to the company’s ancillary revenue. The company has implemented several elements of a long-term growth plan to protect the existing community and set it up for future sustainable growth.

MoviePass has implemented several new cost-reduction and subscription revenue increase measures: Actions that have been implemented are currently cutting the monthly burn by 60%.

A future increase of the standard pricing plan to $14.95 per month within the next 30 days.

First Run Movies opening on 1,000+ Screens to be limited in their availability during the first two weeks, unless made available on a promotional basis, Implementation of additional tactics to prevent abuse of the MoviePass service.

As of Q3 and beyond, MoviePass is also generating incremental non-subscription revenue of approximately $4 to $6 per subscriber per quarter: Integration of MoviePass Ventures and MoviePass Films with our own original content allows us to gain revenue by owning the films through box office, streaming, DVD, retail, transactional sales e.g. Apple and Samsung, and international rights, etc.

Partnerships with 3rd party media inventory to increase scale and reach of marketing efforts driven by data. Continued rollout and refinement of the Peak Pricing program.

Creating strategic marketing partnerships and promotions with studios, content owners, and brands. Integration of Moviefone.Com to support the media buys of brands and studios.

In an effort to maintain the integrity of the MoviePass mission, to enhance discovery, and to drive attendance to smaller films and bolster the independent film community, MoviePass will begin to limit ticket availability to Blockbuster films. This change has already begun rolling out, with Mission Impossible 6 being the first film included in the measure.

This is a strategic move by the company to both limit cash burn and stay loyal to its mission to empower the smaller artistic film communities.

Major studios will continue to be able to partner with MoviePass to promote their first run films, seeding them with a valuable moviegoing audience.

HMNY is up 7 cents to $0.88.

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July 13, 2018

Market higher at midday

Stocks on Wall Street were higher at midday as the S&P 500 rose above 2,800 for the first time since the middle of March.

Stocks on Wall Street were higher at midday as the S&P 500 rose above 2,800, Stockwinners

The Dow has also been strong, though not much of that outperformance is due to JPMorgan (JPM) after the bank and several of its large peers kicked off earnings season with their reports this morning.

ECONOMIC EVENTS:

In the U.S., the June trade price report was mixed, with a weaker than expected 0.4% import price decline and a stronger than expected 0.3% increase in export prices.

The University of Michigan consumer sentiment survey was weaker than expected, falling 1.1 points to a 6-month low of 97.1 in the preliminary print for July. In Asia, China’s exports were strong in June, rising 11.3%, while imports fell a bit short of expectations with an increase of 14.1%.

COMPANY NEWS:

Shares of JPMorgan advanced fractionally after it started off this summer’s earnings season by reporting better than expected earnings for the second quarter. Of note, the bank’s CEO Jamie Dimon said he sees “good global economic growth, particularly in the U.S.”

Meanwhile, Wells Fargo (WFC) slipped 2% after reporting downbeat results for Q2, with the company noting in presentation slides that the third party review of customer accounts is “ongoing.”

Citi (C) shares also fell about 2% after its quarterly report, though the bank’s headline earnings for the quarter beat analysts’ estimates.

In addition, PNC Financial (PNC) reported better than expected results for the quarter and guided for third quarter net interest income to be up low-single digits…

Meanwhile, AT&T (T) was in focus after the U.S. Department of Justice said it plans to appeal the approval of the merger between AT&T and Time Warner. In an interview on CNBC this morning, AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson said that he doesn’t know exactly what the government basis will be for an appeal and that the move by the DOJ “changes nothing”.

Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) dipped about 1% after a Missouri jury awarded $4.69B to 22 women who alleged that use of J&J’s talcum powder products caused their ovarian cancer. The jury award includes $550M in compensatory damages and $4.14B in punitive damages against the company. J&J responded by saying it “intends to pursue all available appellate remedies.”

MAJOR MOVERS:

Among the noteworthy gainers was Biocept (BIOC), which surged 58% after it announced a provider agreement with Alliance Global FZ.

Also higher was Achillion (ACHN), which gained 13% after it said it began dosing in its Phase 1 trial of ACH-5548. Among the notable losers was Gogo (GOGO), which fell 11%, reversing last night’s afterhours gains following the company’s announcement of a strategic review.

Also lower was Ingredion (INGR), which dropped 11% after it announced a $125M cost savings program, provided lower than expected Q2 guidance, and cut its outlook for fiscal 2018.

INDEXES:

Near midday, the Dow was up 93.18, or 0.37%, to 25,018.07, the Nasdaq was up 13.35, or 0.17%, to 7,837.26, and the S&P 500 was up 4.74, or 0.17%, to 2,803.03.

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April 29, 2018

Barron’s is bullish on Ensco, bearish on Chipotle

Barron’s, the weekly publication owned by the Wall Street Journal, in its latest issue mentions several names:

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BULLISH MENTIONS:

Investors should consider Ensco to benefit from oil-price surge. Crude-oil prices are set to jump because President Donald Trump is likely to reintroduce harsh sanctions on Iran by mid-May and to benefit from the oil-price surge, investors should consider buying shares in Ensco (ESV), Simon Constable writes in this week’s edition of Barron’s. Other key oil stocks include EOG Resource (EOG), Transocean (RIG), Exxon Mobil (XOM), Halliburton (HAL), ConocoPhillips (COP) and Devon Energy (DVN), he adds.

Netflix may soon pass Disney in Market Value – Any week now, Netflix (NFLX) will surpass in market value Walt Disney (DIS) as investors cheer on the streaming service’s continued subscriber growth, Jack Hough writes in this week’s edition of Barron’s. Investors who buy Disney shares now could have a long wait before they learn whether the streaming push will result in a rebounding price/earnings ratio, but that is where a diversified business model helps, Hough says.

BEARISH MENTIONS

Chipotle results boosted by potentially short-lived dynamics – Brian Niccol, the new CEO at Chipotle Mexican Grill, got an “enormous” endorsement on Thursday, as shares of the restaurant chain soared 24%, Avi Salzman writes in this week’s edition of Barron’s. But Salzman is still skeptical that investors should buy the rebound. The first-quarter report was boosted by several dynamics that could be short-lived, he argues, adding that even with those results, it is hard to “make a queso” for Chipotle tripling earnings.

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April 13, 2018

Netflix and Comcast join forces

Netflix, Comcast announce expansion of Netflix-Xfinity packages

Comcast (CMCSA) and Netflix (NFLX) announced an expansion of their partnership that will provide Comcast the ability to include a Netflix subscription in new and existing Xfinity packages.

In 2016, Comcast launched Netflix on the X1 platform, offering customers a fully integrated entertainment experience featuring voice control and seamless access to the Netflix service.

Netflix has quickly become one of the most popular voice searches and highly-viewed services on the platform; and among households watching Netflix on X1, X1 has quickly become the most used platform for Netflix viewing.

Comcast has integrated the Netflix service with the X1 user experience, enabling customers to easily browse and access the entire Netflix service, including TV shows, films, documentaries, stand-up comedy, kid’s titles and a catalog of Ultra HD 4K and HDR programming-alongside the live, on demand, DVR and web video from hundreds of networks, studios and digital brands available with their Xfinity TV subscription.

Comcast will launch a variety of initial offers this month that include a Netflix subscription. Offers and availability will vary by market and be open to new and existing customers.

Netflix-related billing will be handled directly by Comcast, giving customers one, simple monthly statement.

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