What happened
Shares of streaming TV company Netflix (NFLX +3.33%) jumped on Monday, rising 9.2% as of 1:02 p.m. EDT. Shares are up even as the overall market is down. As of this writing, the S&P 500 is down 1.6%.
The stock's rise on Monday follows an analyst upgrade for the stock.
Image source: Getty Images.
So what
Netflix is seeing strong subscriber trends and is taking market share from traditional television players, according to Baird analyst William Power. Reflecting a more bullish view for Netflix's revenue, the analyst boosted his rating for the stock from neutral to outperform. In addition, the analyst lifted his 12-month price target for the stock from $350 to $415.
This more optimistic outlook for Netflix comes as the coronavirus pandemic has led to people spending far more time at home, where they are more likely to use services like Netflix.
Now what
When Netflix reported its fourth-quarter financial results in January, management forecast first-quarter revenue to rise 26.8% year over year. Furthermore, Netflix said it expected to add 7 million new paid streaming members during the quarter.
Netflix shareholders are likely hoping these forecasts prove to be conservative since they were provided before people in many countries around the world started staying at home due to the coronavirus outbreak.
