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The competitive landscape has weighed heavily on the minds of Netflix Inc. investors.
In slashing his price target on Netflix NFLX, -0.53% shares to $300 from $380, Evercore ISI analyst Vijay Jayant on Monday said investors are jittery about Netflix’s business model with “a number of new Internet TV service launches from well-capitalized competitors over the coming months.”
The gauntlet is daunting: Walt Disney Co. DIS, +0.25% , Apple Inc. AAPL, -0.10% , AT&T Inc.’s T, +1.19% HBO Max, Comcast Corp.’s CMCSA, +1.13% NBCUniversal, Amazon.com Inc. AMZN, +1.79% , and Roku Inc. ROKU, +10.36% .
The first hint of what this means for Netflix and its investors could come Oct. 16, when Netflix reports its third-quarter earnings.
The first great success story of the genre has lately been a cautionary tale about the fickle nature of consumers’ viewing habits and the cyclical nature of hit shows. Netflix shares have dived 24% since July 17, when it disclosed disappointing figures about the number of people signing up for the service. Netflix added 2.8 million net new international subscribers but lost 126,000 U.S. customers in the quarter that ended in June. Wall Street, conversely, expected 352,000 additional domestic customers and 4.8 million new viewers overseas.