The stock price of Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) regained some of its value after declining as much as 7 percent to $164.26 per share during the early trading on Wednesday.
The shares of the company plunged due to rumors that activist investor, Carl Icahn had been selling some of its stakes in the company.
Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX)’s stock went up slightly to $168.23 per share in the mid afternoon trading after CNBC reported that Carl Icahn did not sell any of his shares in the online video streaming company. Netflix is still down by almost 5 percent.
The stock’s previous closing price was $179.69 per share.
CNBC reported a statement from Icahn that “he has not sold one share of Netflix since buying.” The activist investors also shared his opinion that the “subscription rates at Netflix will continue to climb.”
Icahn purchased a 10 percent stake in Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) around October last year. He owned more than 5.4 million shares of the company. Since his investment, the stock price of the company surged. At the time of his purchase, Icahn remarked that the shares of the company were undervalued.
Immediately after Icahn purchased his stake in the company, the board of directors of Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) adopted a “poison pill” plan to prevent the activist investor from gaining control of the company. The spokesperson of the company previously stated, “Adopting a rights plan is a very reasonable thing to do in light of the recent, and stealthy, accumulation of stock and options by an activist investor.” Icahn met with Netflix CEO Reed Hastings and told him that it is time to put Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) in-play. His proposal is to sell the company to other technology companies such as Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) or Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) that has the ability to accelerate and maximize its distribution.
In a related report, CNBC’s Jim Cramer shared his view with Debra Borchardt at TheStreet.com that Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) should purchase the online video streaming company.
According to Cramer, Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) has a strong balance sheet and enough cash to take over Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX), which he believed an excellent move for the software giant.
He noted that the online video streaming company has brand recognition and more popular to younger demographics than Microsoft. He said, Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) would own the living room if it would combine the Xbox with the video streaming service.
