Analyst Upgrade Again Drives Netflix

Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) had seen an amazing week after analysts helped to push shares up from about $54 to $66 with positive research calls. Now we have shares on the rise yet again on Monday, with a gain of more than 6% to $71.00 right before the formal opening bell.

Today's move follows yet another analyst call, with Morgan Stanley upgrading the unlimited movie download provider. Shares were raised to Overweight from Equal Weight and the new price target is $85 per share.

Last week's call was from Citigroup calling the stock a Buy, but its target was listed as $120 at the time. Before the effects of this new call this morning, Thomson Reuters had a consensus target of only $73.96. That being said, this morning's move may create a situation where analysts have to say that the valuation is full or they will have to raise their price target objectives. Netflix is just not one of those stocks that can trade at its consensus price target for too long because it is such a risky stock.

We have seen close to 250,000 shares trade hands and the last print was up at $71.18 against a 52-week range of $52.81 to $133.43.

JON C. OGG