By Netflix stock has room to run after the streaming giant attracted millions for its live stream of the fight between Jake Paul and Mike Tyson, according to Bank of America analysts.
The analysts boosted their price target for the stock from $800 to $1,000, a 13% increase from its current price of $888 late Thursday morning.
The analysts pointed to the streamer’s “knockout opportunity” in live events after garnering record views for its highly anticipated boxing fight last week.
The fight, between YouTuber Jake Paul and former professional boxer Mike Tyson, proved underwhelming and had some technical issues, but still drew some 60 million households and 108 million live viewers.
Those views broke records and show Netflix’s huge potential in the live events segment, the analysts said.
“The fight was the most-streamed sporting event of all time and an emphatic proof point of Netflix’s ability to aggregate global reach at scale for live events,” the analysts wrote in a Thursday note. “Despite the reported technical issues, we see this event as a positive for Netflix’s ambition in live/sports.”
They added that the event’s success could boost advertising growth for future live events.
Advertising and live events are “intertwined growth opportunities,” the analysts said, because more live programming will drive additional high value, premium ad inventory.
If Netflix is able to capitalize on live events, it would propel advertising to become a multi-year growth driver, the analysts wrote.
“The fight likely signals to sports leagues/promoters that Netflix can now deliver live viewership at a similar (if not greater) scale than linear television,” the analysts said.
Now, all eyes are on the streamer’s upcoming live broadcasts, including two NFL games on Christmas Day, one of which includes a halftime show from Beyoncé.
BofA is predicting another showing up high viewership numbers given the huge popularity of both the NFL and Beyoncé.
They said they expect Netflix to continue making calculated strides into live programming, starting with its 10-year contract with WWE’s Raw starting early next year.
“We anticipate Netflix will continue opportunistically to dive deeper into live programming, while also remaining cognizant of content costs (given valid concerns regarding escalating sports media rights costs),” the analysts said.
The analysts’ comments come as Netflix’s stock has been on a tear in recent months, up 90% so far this year. Last month, it reported a strong quarterly earnings beat and issued positive guidance that gave investors confidence about its position in the streaming wars, propelling its stock to all-time highs.
