JP Morgan reiterated its overweight rating on streaming giant Netflix Inc. NFLX on Thursday and raised its stock price target to $495 from $470, with analysts saying they remain bullish heading into second-quarter earnings due next week. “NFLX shares have significantly outperformed since 1Q earnings, up +33% vs. the SPX +8%, as the company has more smoothly rolled out paid sharing across 100+ markets since late May, which should drive incremental revenue, subs, & profit.,” analysts wrote in a note. Global data from Sprinklr, Google Trends and other third-parties continues to suggest less noise about the recent rollout than around the four markets that were launched in February, they wrote. Data from Apptopia showed accelerating download and daily average user trends in June with the data tracking to about 2.4 million net additions, they said. The analysts raised their second-quarter net additions forecast to 2.5 million from $1.0 million, bringing it in line with the company’s guidance. They expect that number to grow to 6.75 million in the third quarter and to 10 million in the fourth quarter, boosting the full-year total to 21 million. The stock has gained 51% in the year to date, while the S&P 500 SPX has gained 16%.
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