Cathie Wood's ARK Invest purchased 18,783 Netflix shares through its ARK Next Generation Internet ETF on Wednesday, according to trading disclosures.
- Argus maintained its ‘Buy’ rating with a reduced $95 price target, implying about 46% upside from the Oct. 21 close.
- Pivotal Research lowered its price target to $65 and maintained a ‘Hold’ rating, citing engagement concerns.
- Netflix lowered its 2026 advertising revenue expectation to approximately $2.7 billion from about $3 billion.
Netflix Inc. (NFLX) received another downgrade on Thursday as Wolfe Research cut its rating to ‘Peer Perform’ from ‘Outperform’, citing a lack of improvement in viewer engagement despite higher investment.
According to the note cited by TheFly, Wolfe believes Netflix's recent content leadership changes suggest investors may need to be patient before seeing improvements.
As of this writing, NFLX stock was trading over 3% higher, paring some of the losses from the previous session's 5.3% decline.
Argus Defends Netflix's Growth Prospects Despite YouTube Threat
Argus retained its ‘Buy’ rating on Netflix despite lowering its price target to $95 from $120, implying approximately 46% upside from Wednesday's closing price of $65.04, per TheFly.
The firm disagreed with the view that Netflix's interest in Warner Bros. late last year indicated diminishing organic growth opportunities.
Argus maintained that Netflix remains the strongest long-form streaming service, supported by its content library, improving user experience, international expansion and diversification into live sports, gaming, podcasts and children's programming.
However, the research firm acknowledged that concerns about slowing engagement, a shortage of hit content, and competition from Alphabet's (GOOGL) YouTube have pressured Netflix shares.
Pivotal Research also lowered its Netflix price target to $65 from $70 while retaining a ‘Hold’ rating. The firm described the company's third-quarter performance as mixed and said engagement remained the central concern.
Netflix's Q3 Revenue Rises, But Ad Outlook Falls
The analyst actions follow Netflix's third-quarter results on Tuesday, when revenue rose 12% year over year to $12.9 billion, broadly meeting expectations.
However, Netflix lowered its 2026 advertising revenue expectation to approximately $2.7 billion from about $3 billion, citing a slower-than-expected rollout of certain advertising product capabilities.
The company maintained its full-year revenue forecast at $51.1 billion, representing 13% annual growth.
Cathie Wood's ARK Invest purchased 18,783 Netflix shares through its ARK Next Generation Internet ETF (ARKW) on Wednesday, according to trading disclosures.
Netflix Expands Indian Content With Hoichoi Partnership
Separately, Netflix on Thursday announced a partnership with an Indian streaming platform and content studio hoichoi to expand its regional-language content offerings in India.
Under the agreement, Netflix will exclusively stream Hindi, Tamil and Telugu versions of all new hoichoi series premiering over the next two years, alongside their Bengali debuts on hoichoi.
The partnership also includes 14 existing hoichoi titles and plans for original series produced by hoichoi studios, adapting selected stories for wider audiences. Further details of the original productions will be announced later.
What Retail Thinks About NFLX Stock
Despite the recent downgrades and target price cuts, retail investors’ sentiment around NFLX stock remained ‘extremely bullish’ amid extremely high message volume.
So far this year, Netflix shares have slumped nearly 26%. By comparison, the Global X Artificial Intelligence & Technology ETF (AIQ) and the Invesco NASDAQ 100 ETF (QQQM), which hold the stock, have risen around 20% and 15%, respectively, over the same period.
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