What happened
Shares of Netflix (NFLX +0.43%) more than doubled in the first half of 2018. According to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence, share prices rose 104% between Jan. 1 and the end of June.
Netflix's share prices have surged at least 10% in four of this year's first six months, but some four-week periods have delivered even sharper gains.
Image source: Getty Images.
So what
The stock got off to a running start in January, closing the month 41% above December's final price reading. The streaming video veteran's fourth-quarter report absolutely crushed Wall Street's and its own management's subscriber growth targets, paving the way toward accelerating revenue growth and a faster-than-expected return to profitability. The next report contained more of the same. In a nutshell, Netflix is growing like wildfire and the stock is simply following suit.
Now what
Content production efforts continue to weigh on Netflix's cash flow, forcing the company to take on more debt every six months or so in order to keep the cameras rolling. Trailing revenues have soared 78% higher in the last two years, while EBITDA profits took a 162% jump upward. Investors are looking for more of these fantastic growth trends when Netflix reports second-quarter results on Monday evening, though bears would argue that all the good news you could imagine has already been priced into Netflix's stock. Keep your eyes on this stock next week.
