UPDATE: Oppenheimer Downgrades Netflix to Perform on Valuation

Oppenheimer lowered its rating on Netflix

from Outperform to Perform and maintained its $80 price target following a significant share price appreciation on Wednesday. Oppenheimer noted, "We are downgrading NFLX to Perform from Outperform on valuation, following its 14% increase, now near our $80 target, as activist investor Carl Icahn disclosed a 10% ownership position. While we continue to believe NFLX has a strong competitive position, AMZN's future behavior toward subscription video is not predictable and will limit the stock's valuation to 13x US earnings, in our view. Furthermore, our 2013 estimates assume a steady decline in DVD subscribers, which could prove overly aggressive." Netflix closed at $79.24 on Wednesday.