Netflix stock (NFLX) closed at an all-time high on Wednesday, finishing the day up nearly 10% as Wall Street analysts praised the company’s fourth quarter earnings results.
Shortly after the opening bell, the stock leaped to around $1,000 a share as analysts rushed to increase their respective price targets. Pivotal Research upped its target from $1,000 a share to $1,250 — the highest on the Street. Shares backed off of their intraday highs at the close, capping the session at just under $954.
The streaming giant reported a whopping 18.9 million users in the fourth quarter, while revenue and earnings also handily beat expectations. It was the biggest quarterly subscriber gain in the company’s history.
“Q4 results were near flawless,” Jefferies analyst James Heaney said in a note following the report.
Including Wednesday’s price action, Netflix stock has surged about 100% year over year. Shares hit several all-time highs in 2024 as many analysts called Netflix the winner of the hard-fought streaming wars.
The company also announced a $15 billion stock buyback and boosted its full-year revenue outlook in its after-hours report on Tuesday. Netflix now projects 2025 revenue between $43.5 billion and $44.5 billion, ahead of the prior $43 billion to $44 billion range.
The strong subscriber gains come as the streamer ended 2024 with two back-to-back NFL games, a successful “Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson” boxing match, and the return of “Squid Game.” To that end, the company said price hikes will be hitting the service — which analysts had consistently teased heading into the print.
The company raised the price of its ad-supported plan to $7.99 from the prior $6.99. Its Standard, ad-free tier will now be $17.99, up from $15.49, while its Premium plan will increase by $2 to $24.99. Users who want to add an extra member will now pay $8.99, an increase of $1.
Wall Street had expected the streaming giant to report just 9.18 million subscribers after it secured 13.12 million paying users in Q4 2023. The company announced last spring it would stop reporting the metric at the start of this year.
“With no more sub reporting to come, investor focus shifts to Netflix’s ability to monetize its member base; advertising and price increases help answer this,” Macquarie analyst Tim Nollen said on Wednesday.
The company revealed advertising revenue doubled in 2024 and management guided to it doubling again in 2025. Still, ad revenue is not expected to become a primary revenue driver until 2026.
