Netflix dips as Stifel cuts price target on subscriber concerns
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Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) shares dipped more than 2% early Thursday after Stifel analyst Scott Devitt cut his price target on the streaming giant's shares due to several near-term issues that could weigh on the stock, including slowing subscriber growth.

Devitt kept his buy rating intact, but lowered his price target to $630 a share from $690, noting that Netflix (NFLX) started to see weakening app engagement in November. Devitt is also concerned about "the prospect of slower subscriber growth," as well as less profitable growth in international markets, citing the recent price reduction in India.
"Despite these concerns we believe the company executed well on its strategy [in the fourth quarter] releasing a slew of high-profile original content and making solid headway on its video games and visual effects initiatives," Devitt wrote in a note to investors.
Netflix (NFLX) shares were recently trading at around $567 a piece, and have risen more than 13% over the past year.
Due to the weaker-than-expected engagement data, Devitt trimmed his subscriber addition estimate for the fourth quarter to 8.6 million, down from 10.1 million, which is closer in line with Netflix's (NFLX) own guidance of 8.5 million subscribers.
Along with Devitt, J.P. Morgan analyst Doug Anmuth also raised some concerns about Netflix's (NFLX) subscriber growth, and trimmed his price target on the company's stock to $725 a share from $750.
Netflix (NFLX) is one of the most crowded trades, even as hedge funds are rotating out of tech stocks, according to UBS.