Tuesday’s Wall Street News: Netflix, Inc. (NFLX), Capricor Therapeutics Inc (CAPR), Moleculin Biotech Inc (MBRX)
Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) shares are shooting up in Tuesday’s trading session following the release of very impressive earnings results for the second quarter. So far Netflix shares are up over 9% (about $15) and are trading at $177. The main highlight of the report was Netflix’s growth in subscribers which came in way above expectations. Netflix reported international subscriber growth of 4.14 million and domestic growth of 1.07 million, easily beating the anticipated respective figures of 2.6 million and 600,000. In terms of EPS and revenue, Netflix’s EPS came in marginally below the $0.16 consensus. However, this was overshadowed by a neat revenue beat of $2.79 billion, which topped the forecast $2.76 billion and also marked a 32% increase from the same period last year.
Investors have been reassured by strong domestic subscriber growth which refutes concerns that the US market was becoming saturated which would lead to a growth slowdown. At the same time, the company’s strong international success suggests Netflix has a great deal of further global potential that it is only just beginning to explore.
Top Rosenblatt Securities’ analyst Alan Gould upgraded his Netflix rating to buy following the results, which he said are “just too good.” Gould also noted that Netflix is creating a “content moat” which places it apart from its competitors with an increasing focus on original content and production. Netflix can do this because it is receiving fees from such a large subscription base. Gould boosted his price target in a big way- from just $155 to $200 (To watch Gould's track record, click here).
On TipRanks, the stock has a Moderate Buy analyst consensus rating with 19 buy ratings, 6 hold ratings and 1 sell rating published on the stock in the last three months. Due to the recent price spike, the average analyst price target of $180 now translates into an upside of just 2.2% from the current share price.
Capricor Therapeutics, Inc (NASDAQ:CAPR) shares are exploding by an incredible 112% in Tuesday’s trading. Shares are up on the news that the US drug regulatory body, the FDA, has granted a Rare Pediatric Disease Designation to its CAP-1002 drug which is currently under development. The drug is intended to treat Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a debilitating genetic disorder which causes progressive weakness and muscle inflammation.
Capricor CEO Linda Marbán says that the new designation, along with the Orphan Drug Designation that CAP-1002 has already received, means that the company will receive certain incentives for the drug’s development including priority review. She adds that the designation also highlights the urgent unmet need of Duchenne sufferers.