Analysts bullish on Netflix and Disney's growth potentials

Media stocks are garnering bullish sentiment from Wall Street analysts. Citi has raised its price target for Netflix stock (NFLX) from $550 to $660 per share, driven by robust subscriber growth projections. The firm also factored in the impact of Netflix's intensified efforts to curb account password sharing.

Meanwhile, Barclays has upgraded Disney (DIS) from Equal Weight to Overweight ahead of the company's highly anticipated shareholder meeting to vote on the ongoing proxy battle from activist investor Nelson Peltz. Barclays also increased its price target for Disney to $135 per share from $95, expressing confidence that the company's streaming business will achieve profitability by the end of 2024.

Yahoo Finance Entertainment Reporter Alexandra Canal breaks down the details.

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Editor's note: This article was written by Angel Smith

Video Transcript

SEANA SMITH: Wall Street is getting bullish on media stocks. Citi raising its price target on Netflix. And Barclays upgrading Disney to overweight. Here with the details, "Yahoo Finance's" senior reporter Alexandra Canal. Allie, let's start with Disney. And what we're learning there from Barclays.

ALEXANDRA CANAL: Yeah. Well, Disney has been in the news a lot lately due to this proxy battle with Nelson Peltz. That's all going to come to a head next week at the shareholder meeting, April 3. But Barclays seeing more room to run here, upgrading shares to overweight from equal weight. And also, raising the price target by $40 to $135 a share.

Currently, shares are trading around $120. So that implies roughly 15% upside, which is pretty significant, considering how much this stock has outperformed over the past year. But the bull case here is that streaming may end up being positive a few quarters earlier than expected.

Bob Iger has consistently reiterated that by the end of fiscal 2024, streaming is finally going to be profitable. We also have a few other tailwinds, such as the strike ending, the Hulu consolidation, continued cost cuts. And the analyst here sees that that's going to be more impactful down the line as, really, Disney commits to this turnaround plan.

Now, part of the turnaround plan has been pressured by activist investors. And Nelson Peltz, he's been one of the most vocal. And according to CNBC, he withheld his vote from Disney CEO Bob Iger in that proxy fight saying, he's, basically, implying he does not want him to rejoin the company's board.

We'll see. Again, that all comes to a head on April 3. He is fighting for a seat at the board along with former Disney CFO Jay Rasulo But right now, guys, it seems like Disney is in a strong position, considering where the stock is trading, considering the positive results we got in their latest earnings report.

So we'll see what shareholders want at the end of the day come next week.

BRAD SMITH: Netflix, also this morning, moving lower by about 3/10 of a percent. That also part of this call that's out there too.

ALEXANDRA CANAL: Yeah. So Citi has a call. They're raising their estimates to reflect stronger subscriber growth. And raising its price target from $555 a share to $660 a share. It's going to maintain its neutral rating.

Now, Netflix has been really trying to move away from subscriber ads. And they've been putting the emphasis more on the ad-supported tier along with the password sharing crackdown. So they see that as the key drivers moving ahead here.

And Citi really sees more room to run on the subscriber front. And if you think of the recent programming that Netflix has put out there, it's been very successful, especially, when we think about international too. For full-year 2024, they're actually going to invest more internationally. They're really emphasizing localized content than domestically.

And that's having a boon, really, when you think about overseas growth and the potential to reach subscribers that are maybe in markets not as mature as the North American market.

So a lot of these streaming companies, these media companies, they are putting out their next phases of growth. And it seems like analysts are pretty bullish that as we see that play out, it's going to have a significant impact on the stock price in the bottom lines of these companies.