Netflix stock price forecast: BofA sees a 30% upside

Netflix Inc (NASDAQ: NFLX) has been in a downtrend since late January but a Bank of America analyst says that will change over the next twelve months.

Netflix stock could climb to $410 a share

On Friday, Jessica Reif Ehrlich recommended that investors buy Netflix stock and said it has upside to $410 – close to a 30% upside versus its previous close.

Her bullish view is based primarily on better-than-expected subscriber growth in the United States and Canada. Citing third-party data, Ehrlich wrote:

The data source has indicated that net adds will be greater than +500K for [U.S. and Canada] ass gross adds in Canada have accelerated materially.

In its latest reported quarter, the streaming giant added 7.7 million subscribers – handily beating the analysts’ forecast for 4.58 million only (read more). Netflix shares are up a little over 10% for the year at writing.

Ehrlich is bullish on password crackdown

Ehrlich expects the company’s crackdown on password sharing to be a meaningful benefit for its stock price as well.

The said crackdown that started in Canada last month, she noted, is going well and, therefore, signals optimism for the future launch in the United States as well.

The indication of much stronger than anticipated sub data in Canada is an encouraging sign that Netflix’s recent crackdown on password sharing is driving new subs to the service.

Earlier this week, the mass media company confirmed that its recently launched ad-supported tier has surpassed 1.0 million users. Versus its record high, Netflix stock is still currently down more than 50%.