Shares of Netflix (NFLX) are under pressure after the streaming service company announced that its CFO David Wells is stepping down. Commenting on Wells’ departure, KeyBanc analyst Andy Hargreaves told investors he expects “minimal disruption” since Netflix’s financial strategy is now well established. Meanwhile, Imperial Capital analyst David Miller cut his price target on the stock to $494 on lower subscriber estimates.
CFO STEPPING DOWN: This morning, Netflix announced that CFO David Wells plans to step down after helping the company choose his successor. The search will include both internal and external candidates. Wells, who joined Netflix in 2004 and has served as CFO since 2010, intends to stay until his successor takes the role to ensure a smooth transition.
‘MINIMAL DISRUPTION’: Following the news, KeyBanc’s Hargreaves said in a research note that while David Wells’ departure is a loss, he expects “minimal disruption” as Netflix’s financial strategy is now well established. Consequently, the analyst noted that he sees little in Wells departure to change his view of long-term value in the company. In addition to raising capital, Hargreaves believes optimizing the relationship between content and marketing spend and subscriber growth is the most critical financial challenge facing Netflix. Therefore, he argued that a candidate with experience in subscription businesses, or at least strong and reasonable opinions about how to operate that business, would be most appropriate. The analyst has an Overweight rating on the shares.
IMPERIAL CAPITAL CUTS TARGET: Meanwhile, Imperial Capital’s Miller has lowered his price target for Netflix to $494 from $503 after slightly reducing his global subscriber estimates. The analyst told investors in a research note of his own that in the “interest of being conservative,” he decreased his fiscal 2018 global subscriber estimate to 141.2M from 141.4M and fiscal 2019 global subscriber estimate to 164.4M from 166.3M. Nonetheless, the analyst reiterated an Outperform on the shares, saying that unlike most linear networks, Netflix can afford to be patient with original programming. Furthermore, Hargreaves pointed out that “in reality, there is not much competition” for the streaming service company.
No Comments