Wall Street Analysts Think Netflix (NFLX) Is a Good Investment: Is It?

Core Viewpoint - The article discusses the reliability of Wall Street analysts' recommendations, particularly focusing on Netflix (NFLX), and emphasizes the importance of using these recommendations in conjunction with other analytical tools like Zacks Rank for making informed investment decisions [1][4]. Group 1: Brokerage Recommendations - Netflix has an average brokerage recommendation (ABR) of 1.70, indicating a consensus between Strong Buy and Buy, based on recommendations from 41 brokerage firms [2]. - Out of the 41 recommendations, 26 are classified as Strong Buy, accounting for 63.4%, while 2 are classified as Buy, making up 4.9% of the total recommendations [2]. Group 2: Limitations of Brokerage Recommendations - Studies indicate that brokerage recommendations have limited success in guiding investors towards stocks with the highest price increase potential [4]. - Analysts from brokerage firms tend to exhibit a strong positive bias in their ratings, often issuing five Strong Buy recommendations for every Strong Sell recommendation, which may mislead investors [5][9]. Group 3: Zacks Rank as an Alternative - Zacks Rank categorizes stocks into five groups based on earnings estimate revisions, with a strong correlation to near-term stock price movements, making it a more reliable indicator than ABR [7][10]. - The Zacks Rank is updated more frequently than ABR, reflecting timely changes in earnings estimates, which can provide better insights into future price movements [11]. Group 4: Current Earnings Estimates for Netflix - The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Netflix's current year earnings has remained unchanged at $24.58 over the past month, indicating stable analyst optimism regarding the company's earnings prospects [12]. - The recent consensus estimate change, along with other factors, has resulted in a Zacks Rank of 1 (Strong Buy) for Netflix, suggesting that the Buy-equivalent ABR may be a useful guide for investors [13].