Netflix price target raised to $500 from $420 at Pivotal Research. Pivotal Research analyst Jeffrey Wlodarczak raised his price target for Netflix to $500 from $420 and keeps a Buy rating on the shares. The streaming service closed yesterday up 3%, or $11.78, to $416.76. The analyst's new price target reflects a move to fiscal 2019 estimates from fiscal 2018 as well as modestly higher long-term international average revenue per user expectations. He expects Netflix to post "yet another solid result" in the seasonally weaker Q2 driven by content launches, "aggressive" increases in marketing spend and the "natural momentum of the business." Further, Wlodarczak views the close of AT&T's (T) Time Warner acquisition as a potential "nice positive" for Netflix. The streaming service should be able to pick up Time Warner talent and is likely to benefit from "global competitor" HBO weakening as AT&T is likely to find it "very difficult to mash together two extremely disparate operating cultures," Wlodarczak tells investors in a research note titled "The Albanian Army Continues to Take Over the World; Raising Target to $500." He believes Netflix continues to offer a "compelling" long-term investment thesis.
