Mark Mahaney, analyst for Royal Bank Capital Markets, is extremely bullish about Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX), calling the company the firm’s “#1 buy” in a research report published on Monday.
Mahaney’s team surveyed customers in the United States, United Kingdom, and Brazil, and came away impressed with the results. "(The results) showed rising usage, an improving competitive position, and potentially ameliorating impact from the 2016 price increases -- clear
positives in our view" wrote the team.
They also believe the company can not only continue to pass price increases to existing customers, but it’ll also benefit as more and more people drop cable for streaming services exclusively.
The analysts also liked the trend of increasing usage from Netflix customers. After prior surveys saw customers spending less time with the service, this survey noted an uptrend in total usage.
It looks like Netflix’s investment in exclusive programming is starting to pay off.
Foreign growth was also encouraging, with strong growth in the number of users in both the U.K. and Brazil, according to the RBC survey. Both markets saw double-digit increases in the number of surveyees reporting to be Netflix subscribers.
Shares of Netflix shrugged off this news, rising only 0.33%, increasing $0.34 to $97.92 in Monday morning trading. Shares are closer to the 52-week low of $79.95 than the 52-week high of $133.27.
