Netflix In 'Middle Inning' Of Growth, Apple Will Hit $150 By 2016: RBC's Mahaney And Daryanani

Amazon.com, Inc. AMZN, Facebook Inc FB and LinkedIn Corp LNKD are RBC analyst Mark Mahaney's top picks in the entertainment and social media space, according to a new note from the research firm.

Mahaney reiterated his Outperform rating on Netflix and boosted his price target to $125. The company, he said, "continues to defy expectations for both US and International Subscribers driven by their Original Content strategy."

The analyst believes Netflix is still in the "middle inning" in terms of growth, adding that streaming revenues hit targets despite a multi-million dollar foreign exchange headwind. Mahaney continues to see "increasing profitability and the potential for pricing power as the company acquires content more efficiently."

Netflix shares are up 16.5 percent on Thursday.

Related Link: A Bull, A Bear And Another Analyze Netflix's Earnings

His colleague, Amit Daryanani, also shared some thoughts on the IT space and Apple Inc. AAPL, which he calls a "bright spot."

Daryanani said he expects the industry to report June results and guidance below consensus expectations, adding that he sees "potential" EPS risk at International Business Machines Corp. IBM, QLogic Corporation QLGC and Seagate Technology PLC STX.

Regarding Apple, Daryanani added that the company's unit demand "continues to track ahead of plan and GMs are likely to stabilize in "low 40%" range" and "survey work shows carrier contracts are the bigger driver for refresh cycles." He expects 46.5 million iPhones to be shipped in Apple's latest quarter, and projects a share price of $150 in 2016 based on 2016 earnings per share of $10.08.

Apple last traded near $128 per share on Thursday afternoon.