Opinions Bruce Murray
Netflix Inc.NFLXBUYSep 18, 2018
Bruce MurrayStock price when the opinion was issued
As of Nov 11, 2026. Market Open.
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Streaming industry has become much more competitive. Difficulty maintaining a consistent, ongoing subscriber base (rather than intermittent), which also affects advertiser interest. Wait to see action on this issue before committing more $$.
Disclaimer: Not owned in segregated client accounts. However, her colleague John O'Connell owns it in the equity fund that he manages.
It's had a rough year, following the failed Warners bid. He still likes it, because the business is performing quite well. They have more subscribers and revenues outside the U.S. where they have little competition and are growing rapidly. Also, they replaced the head of content, and are looking to ad sports. Lots of ways to improve growth ahead.
(Analysts’ price target is $86.35)
The fundamentals are as good or better as people have hoped. But there are worries that people are watching YouTube and no longer Netflix, but this is not in the numbers. These things reverse very quickly. Look at Google's stock. He thinks Netflix will grow at double digits for many years.
Barry Schwartz
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Premium contentNetflix plans to accelerate growth in live entertainment. It currently spends 5% of its annual $20 billion content budget on it, though attracts 1% of viewership. Overall content spending is up from $24 billion in 2025 to $25.1 billion in the first half of this year alone. The spending will squeeze cash flow, but new content will attract viewers in an ever-competitive industry. As for the share price, it's been brutal, plunging from its spring highs around $108 to a current bottom of $67 to match level from late July. Yes, Netflix faces challenges, but it has too many good numbers to dismiss. Time to bottom-feed.
There are two big streaming companies, Netflix and YouTube. Netflix should be able to increase its subscriber growth by diversifying its business into sports, etc. There is an uptick on their paids. It does a lot of its own content and buys content very easily. You can buy at these levels.
This has 130 million subscribers globally and there are 1.2 billion cable company subscribers. There’s a long way to go in market penetration. He sees it as still being in a growth phase and compares this to Amazon 10 years ago. After they start running out of new subscribers to add, they can increase revenue through pricing leverage. They are currently very liberal in terms of how many people can watch shows through the same subscription at the same time. Tightening that can raise revenue. They are the first mover in a growing space. He has only a small position but believes it has significant upside over many years.