Netflix (NFLX.US) before the release of its performance, Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. sent a bullish research report, raising prices, strengthening advertising and IP to enhance growth logic.

Just about a week before global streaming giant Netflix (NFLX.US) announced its first-quarter performance, Wall Street financial giant Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. upgraded its stock rating for Netflix, Inc. from "neutral" to "buy," and raised the 12-month target price from the previous $100 to $120. Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. stated that at the current stock trading point, the company's stock offers a more positive risk/return ratio. As of last Friday's closing of the US stock market, Netflix's stock price closed at $103.01, up nearly 10% year-to-date, outperforming the S&P 500 index. The background of this rating upgrade is that Netflix, Inc.'s stock price has seen a significant decline in the past six months, mainly due to the widespread selling pressure brought about by its almost abandoned bid to acquire the streaming and production assets of Hollywood giant Warner Bros. Discovery and the political conflicts of the GEO Group Inc in the Middle East. It is worth noting that the streaming giant Netflix, Inc. (i.e. Netflix, Inc.), which owns popular IPs such as the sci-fi horror series "Stranger Things," has seen an overall decline of about 18% in its stock price in the past 6 months, but its stock has shown resilience this year, outperforming most global stock targets with a nearly 10% increase. The stock analyst team from Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. believes that considering the company's decision to withdraw from this costly acquisition deal, it is currently returning to an independent growth logic, and there is a possibility that its core performance expectations may be further revised upwards. The analyst from the institution also pointed out that the company has a relatively strong potential for capital return. Wall Street analysts generally believe that this streaming giant is expected to show stronger performance resilience in the face of the political crisis of GEO Group Inc in the Middle East and global macroeconomic uncertainty. With the announcement of Netflix's financial report, it means that the curtain will be raised on the earnings season of US tech giants. With positive expectations for currency policy and the AI boom driving the US and other global stock markets into a strong rebound trajectory and continuing bull market sentiment, the actual performance strength and future performance prospects of technology giants with high weightings in the Nasdaq Composite Index and S&P 500 Index are crucial for these two indices to enter the trajectory of repeatedly hitting new highs. Another Wall Street financial giant, Bank of America Corp (BofA), has recently maintained a "buy" rating on Netflix, emphasizing the company's stronger pricing power, with a target price as high as $125, emphasizing its pricing power and future growth opportunities; Morgan Stanley has resumed coverage of Netflix with an "overweight" rating, while Morgan Stanley maintains a "neutral" rating and expects sustainable double-digit revenue growth, profit, and free cash flow compound growth rate of about 20%. A more general Wall Street analyst stance is also positive: MarketBeat shows that of the approximately 50 analysts in the past 12 months, a total of 38 have given a buy/strong buy recommendation, while 12 have advised to hold; TipRanks' statistics also show that analysts' expectations are largely "Moderate Buy/Strong Buy" (equivalent to a buy rating). The underlying logic behind Wall Street's bullish view on Netflix's stock price is relatively consistent, focusing mainly on price increases, increased advertising business, content and live broadcast expansion, and profit margin and capital return improvement after the acquisition noise subsides. It is reported that Netflix has raised subscription prices in various categories in the United States, with analysts expecting this to drive a roughly 6% rise in ARPU in the US and Canada by 2026; Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. further predicts that advertising revenue could grow significantly from approximately $1.5 billion in 2025 to about $4.5 billion in 2027 and nearly $9.5 billion in 2030. Another institution, BMO, estimates that the US price increase could add approximately $1.5 billion in revenue by 2026, while Needham estimates about $1.7 billion in incremental revenue. Wall Street analysts' mainstream bullish view on Netflix is becoming clearer: Netflix's growth is no longer solely reliant on new subscribers, but is shifting towards a composite drive of "price increase + advertising + higher quality monetization." In the current environment of war and oil price disturbances, Netflix's fundamental advantages lie in its relatively unaffected business model by direct impacts from Middle Eastern energy shocks, and its combination of "low-cost entertainment + pricing power + advertising model expansion" enables it to remain resilient in times of macroeconomic uncertainty. Netflix management is set to release its first-quarter performance for 2026 on April 16th, with analysts generally expecting total revenue for Netflix in the first quarter to be around $12.15 billion, indicating a slight increase of about 0.9% from the fourth quarter of 2025 with $12.051 billion, and a significant increase of about 15.3% from the first quarter of 2025 with $10.54 billion; expected operating profit is around $3.906 billion, indicating a potential increase of about 32.1% from the previous quarter's $2.957 billion, and a potential increase of about 16.7% from the same period last year's $3.347 billion; the expected adjusted EPS (earnings per share) is around $0.76, indicating a significant increase of about 35.7% from the previous quarter's $0.56 EPS, and an increase of about 15.2% from the same period last year's $0.66 EPS.