Business Corpus: Netflix Stock Gets Price-Target Cut As Subscriber Outlook LoweredA Wall Street analyst on Wednesday said Netflix subscriber additions in the fourth quarter are likely to disappoint, so he lowered his price target on Netflix stock. He kept his buy rating. The post Netflix Stock Gets Price-Target Cut As Subscriber Outlook Lowered appeared first on Investor's Business Daily.

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A Wall Street analyst on Wednesday said Netflix (NFLX) subscriber additions in the fourth quarter are likely to disappoint, so he lowered his price target on Netflix stock.

SunTrust Robinson Humphrey analyst Matthew Thornton slashed his price target on Netflix stock to 355 from 410, though he kept his buy rating. Shares of the internet television network ended the regular session unchanged at 267.66 on the stock market today.

Thornton said his firm's subscriber data were "tracking a little light" through November. The data pointed to fourth-quarter subscriber additions poised to end up below Wall Street forecasts.

High-profile new content in December, such as "Bird Box," "Black Mirror: Bandersnatch" and "Taylor Swift Reputation Stadium Tour," should help close the gap, he said. "But meaningful Q4 upside looks unlikely," Thornton said in a report to clients.

SunTrust's current data point to fourth-quarter U.S. subscriber adds of 1.43 million to 1.75 million, vs. estimates for 1.75 million. The firm's data also indicates international subscriber additions of 5 million to 6.9 million, vs. analyst predictions for 7.3 million.

Netflix Content Slate Strengthening

Thornton expects Netflix's new content slate to strengthen toward midyear with season three of "Stranger Things" and other shows. New content coming in the first quarter includes fresh seasons of "Marvel's The Punisher" and "A Series of Unfortunate Events."

Netflix will face heightened competition this year as Apple (AAPL), Walt Disney (DIS) and AT&T's (T) WarnerMedia launch rival streaming video services.

On Wednesday, Netflix announced that it has hired Spencer Neumann as chief financial officer. He replaces departing Chief Financial Officer David Wells, who is leaving the company after 14 years. Neumann most recently was chief financial officer at video game publisher Activision Blizzard (ATVI). He previously held senior positions at Disney.

"We would view the hire favorably, as Neumann has public CFO experience at a large global consumer tech/entertainment company, with leverage on the balance sheet and subscription revenue, and is fairly well-known and liked by investors," Thornton said before the appointment.

Meanwhile, Activision named Dennis Durkin as its chief financial officer, reprising the role he held from March 2012 to May 2017. Most recently, Durkin had been serving as chief corporate officer for the company.

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The post Netflix Stock Gets Price-Target Cut As Subscriber Outlook Lowered appeared first on Investor's Business Daily.