Netflix rises even as PhillipCapital downgrades, citing recent run-up in stock
Mario Tama

Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) shares rose fractionally in premarket trading on Thursday even as investment firm PhillipCapital downgraded the streaming giant, citing the recent run-up in the stock.
Analyst Jonathan Woo lowered his rating on Netflix (NFLX) to accumulate but boosted his per-share price target to $388 from $346, noting that the company's recent financial performance has been largely factored in.
Despite the downgrade, Woo noted that Netflix's recently released fourth-quarter results were better-than-expected, the company is continuing to add subscribers and the start of its advertising-supported tier is promising. 
"Netflixâs new ad-supported plan ... continues to show strong user engagement trends similar to the companyâs non-ads plans, with solid growth trends, and lower-than-expected switches from higher premium plans," Woo wrote in a note to clients. 
"Additionally, early signs indicate that the unit economics of Basics with ads remains very strong and should generate incremental revenue and profits moving forward, although this impact would remain relatively modest in [fiscal 2023] as Netflix continues to gradually roll out this plan to more regions." 
Earlier this week, Netflix (NFLX) received 16 Oscar nominations for its films in 2022, including nine going to its remake of the World War I movie, All Quiet on the Western Front.
Analysts are largely cautious on Netflix (NFLX). It has a HOLD rating from Seeking Alpha authors, while Wall Street analysts rate it a BUY. Conversely, Seeking Alpha's quant system, which consistently beats the market, rates NFLX a HOLD.