The Justification To Be Lukewarm On Netflix

• Shares of Netflix, Inc. NFLX have surged 110.55 percent, year to date.
• Mizuho’s Neil A. Doshi has reiterated a Neutral rating and price target of $115 on the company.
• Following only two Emmy Awards for Netflix, Doshi expects the stock to see “modest selling pressure.”

Despite 34 nominations in 2015, Netflix won only two Emmy Awards, one for House of Cards and the other for Orange is the New Black. “Given that Netflix is investing heavily in new original content, we would have expected to see more success from these investments,” Doshi stated.

In addition, the awards won were only for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series and Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series. Doshi expressed disappointment that “Netflix was unable to garner more support for its shows,” especially given the huge investment the company has been making in original content.

Also, its newer shows, such as Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt failed to win any awards, while Daredevil and Marco Polo to even be nominated.

Doshi expects this lackluster performance to put modest pressure on the stock. In addition, Netflix has not freed cash to potentially acquire Star Wars content, as well as to add further flexibility to acquire original content.

“Given that valuation remains high, lack of success around the Emmy Awards, and potential variability in subscriber count from new Asia roll-out plans, we continue to remain on the sidelines,” Doshi added.