Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster says Facebook's (FB) virtual reality theme is building momentum after its Oculus unit announced a 50% price cut for its mobile VR solution headset to $99. Also announced was that the headset, named Gear VR, will work with five phones versus three in the past. A better virtual reality experience is now available to a larger market and the "critically important" content is growing, Munster tells investors in a research note. Oculus has partnerships with Netflix (NFLX), Hulu, Tivo (TIVO), Sega and Midway to bring their content into Gear VR, Munster points out. He expects Samsung to sell 5M-10M Oculus enabled Gear VR headsets next year, up from around 1M in 2015. Munster maintains an Overweight rating on Facebook with a $146 price target. The stock closed yesterday up 44c to $94.41.

Canaccord analyst Maria Ripps downgraded Netflix to Hold from Buy with a price target of $585, down from $720.

Check out this evening's top movers from around Wall Street, compiled by The Fly. HIGHER AFTER EARNINGSMetropolitan... To see the rest of the story go to thefly.com. See Story Here

Netflix said in its quarterly letter to investors: "We have built a hard to replicate combination of a strong slate, superior recommendations, broad reach and intense fandom, which drives healthy engagement on Netflix. Improvement in these key areas is the best way to delight our members and continue to grow our business." The company added: "Net cash generated by operating activities in Q1 was $2.2B and free cash flow totaled $2.1B (both flat with Q1'23). During the quarter, we paid down $400M of senior notes with cash on hand and we repurchased 3.6M shares for $2B. We finished the quarter with gross debt of $14B and cash and cash equivalents of $7B. We're still forecasting full year 2024 free cash flow of approximately $6B, assuming no material swings in F/X, and cash content spend of up to $17B."

Pre-earnings options volume in Netflix is 1.1x normal with calls leading puts 5:4. Implied volatility suggests the market is anticipating a move near 7.3%, or $44.89, after results are released. Median move over the past eight quarters is 9.6%.

Netflix (NFLX) is scheduled to report its first quarter 2024 financial results and business outlook on Thursday, April 18. A video interview... To see the rest of the story go to thefly.com. See Story Here