Several Wall Street analysts raised their price targets on Netflix stock after shares of the streaming video leader jumped on ratings for its Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson boxing match.
On Monday, Netflix stock popped 2.8% to close at 847.05. On the stock market today, Netflix stock rose 2.9% to end the regular session at 871.32.
Netflix on Monday announced that more than 60 million households watched the Friday night fight. It also revealed that music superstar Beyonce will perform a halftime show on Dec. 25 during Netflix's broadcast of the NFL game featuring the Houston Texans vs. Baltimore Ravens.
At least three Wall Street firms raised their price targets on Netflix stock on the news.
Jefferies analyst James Heaney reiterated his buy rating on Netflix stock and upped his price target to 1,000 from 800.
"We view the disclosure of 60 million households watching the Paul-Tyson fight (20% of 283 million global subscribers) as a major breakthrough for Netflix's live events strategy and a catalyst for attracting ad dollars away from the $50 billion-plus U.S. linear TV market," Heaney said in a client note. "These stats increase our confidence that the Christmas Day NFL games should outperform linear viewership, providing another catalyst to accelerate ad growth."
Netflix is broadcasting two NFL football games on Christmas Day this year. Plus, it will stream at least one Christmas Day football game in 2025 and in 2026.
The Paul-Tyson video stream suffered from technical glitches, but those are fixable, Heaney said.
Netflix Stock Is On Two IBD Lists
Netflix will further advance its live content strategy next year when it begins broadcasting the WWE's flagship pro wrestling program "Raw" starting in January.
Meanwhile, Wedbush Securities analyst Alicia Reese maintained her outperform rating on Netflix stock and increased her price target to 950 from 800.
"We think Netflix is positioned to accelerate ad tier revenue contribution for the next several years, as it adds more live events, improves its advertising solutions and targeting, and utilizes new partnerships," Reese said in a client note.
She added, "We expect the ad tier to become the primary revenue growth driver by 2026. Netflix has reached the right formula with global content creation, balancing costs, and increasing profitability."
Elsewhere, CFRA Research analyst Kenneth Leon kept his buy rating on Netflix stock and raised his price target to 925 from 810.
"Netflix is flexing its streaming capability with select live sporting events that draw from a global subscriber base," Leon said in a client note. "Advertising is still in the early stages, but is expected to be a revenue driver by 2026."
Netflix stock is on two IBD lists: IBD 50 and Big Cap 20.
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