5 Best Streaming Stocks To Buy Now

3. Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 113

Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) is the world’s leading streaming platform. Founded in 1997, the firm currently has roughly 222 million paying subscribers, and stood as the driving force behind the world’s transition from cinema-going to streaming entertainment content at home.

For the first quarter of 2022, Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) reported losing subscribers for the first time in 10 years. This was a wake-up call for the company which no longer enjoys an unchallenged status in the highly competitive streaming industry.

However, Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter turned bullish on Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) on May 16, and upgraded the shares to ‘Outperform’ from ‘Neutral’ with a $280 price target. The analyst notes that investor confidence in the firm will restore and subscribers will start growing again as soon as it tries to reduce the churn rate by releasing new content over several weeks. The analyst believes Netflix shares present a compelling investment opportunity, and sees it only gradually raising prices and launching its ad-supported option.

Investors were bullish on Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) shares at the end of Q4 2021, where 113 hedge funds held stakes in the company as compared to 106 hedge funds in the previous quarter. According to its Q1 2022 portfolio, Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management was the largest shareholder of Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX), with 6.35 million shares worth $2.38 billion, showing an uptick of 18% in holding over the preceding quarter.

Here is what investment firm ClearBridge Investments had to say about Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) in its Q1 2022 investor letter:

“After being a prime beneficiary of increased viewing patterns during the stay-at-home period of COVID-19, Netflix is recalibrating what a normal growth trajectory will look like as global economies fully reopen. The stock fell sharply after the company modestly reduced its net subscriber additions for the current quarter, calling into question its ability to continue to deliver double-digit subscriber growth.

We believe one of our edges as active managers is our long-term orientation and willingness to be both early and patient with additions to the portfolio. With Netflix, we remain convinced that our thesis for owning the stock is intact. While some fear the U.S. streaming market is becoming saturated, Netflix’s penetration of global broadband homes is still less than 50%, a figure that doesn’t even include the opportunity to attract more mobile-only smartphone users.”