Netflix Stocks Up By More Than 60% In 2018

• Netflix (NFLIX) stocks are up by more than 60% this year.
• Netflix stocks performed better than giants like Facebook, Amazon, Apple, and Alphabet.
• The brand is set to report its first-quarter earnings on Monday with analysts expecting more than 40% jump in sales versus last year.

Netflix stocks are up by more than 60% this year. With the online streaming company set to report its first-quarter earnings on Monday, analysts are forecasting over 40% growth in sales from last year and 60% more profit. There have been more than 7.5 million subscribers on the platform in the first quarter of 2018 alone.

Big media companies have been supporting Netflix as a platform lately. The latest partnership was announced on Friday with Comcast’s NBCUniversal partnering with the brand. Comcast has allowed users of the X1 TV to sign into Netflix directly. With the new partnership in place, Comcast is set to offer Netflix subscriptions as part of the Xfinity cable packages.

Courtesy of MediaPlay News

Deutsche Bank analyst Bryan Kraft raised the price target on Netflix stocks to $350 a share, which is almost 15% higher than what the shares closed for on Thursday. With content production and distribution companies realizing Netflix has so many shows people want; Netflix is getting more attention than ever. Kraft wrote, "Netflix has changed the industry in a profound way and in doing so has given itself a significant lead, making it very difficult for the traditional media companies or even other big tech companies, to catch up.”

The brand started off as an underdog in the industry, and it still faces stiff competition from the likes of Amazon, Apple, and Hulu. Netflix is currently worth $136 billion, more than most of its rivals in the media industry. Well, known competitors like Time Warner and Fox are well behind Netflix with their market caps of $75 billion and $67.8 billion respectively.

Netflix has more competition headed its way with Disney set to launch its streaming service in late 2019. With the recent acquisition of 21^st Century Fox, Disney may be set to offer content from Fox, once the deal is approved.

CNN predicts that Netflix could potentially top Comcast’s market value. Comcast is currently worth 153$ billion and their stocks have plunged by almost 20%. Netflix’s presence is making it very difficult for traditional media companies with the competition far behind.