Netflix, Inc. (NFLX) Earnings Beat, Shares Surge 17%

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Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) made public its earnings report for the first three months of 2013 after the market closed on Monday April 22. The company showed earnings of 32 cents per share for the first three months of 2013, on revenues of $1.02 for the quarter. On today’s market the company’s shares finished almost 7 percent at $174.37. After market trading saw shares shoot above $200.

Netflix, Inc. (NFLX) Earnings Beat, Shares Surge 17%

In the same quarter of 2012, Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) lost 8 cents per shares on revenues of $870 million. Analysts were looking for earnings of 20 cents per share from the media streaming company, on revenues of $1 billion. The firm’s performance since the start of 2013 has been stellar, and investors appear to be expecting huge gains from the company in the months and years ahead.

High whisper numbers which were circulated in anticipation of the company’s earnings suggested that the company would put up earnings of 25 cents per share.

Some investors are, however, getting nervous about the company’s high valuation. Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) is trading at a 2012 P/E of around 600. That valuation implies huge expectations on a company in a market with less than ferocious barriers to entry and growing competition.

The markets bet also appears to ignore the problems that Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) has been having in international markets. The company has not yet managed to turn a profit from its international operations, while it lays out huge amounts on marketing and content licensing. The company expects increased subscriptions overseas every quarter this year, but competition in other markets has been much more hectic than at home.

While Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) continues to improve the service it offers users, and continues to add to its offerings in both original content and external programming, users in the United States are likely to continue to add a Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) subscription to their entertainment costs. International companies have a lot of options, and Netflix does not have the prominent moat in enjoys in North America.

The firm’s high valuation, coupled with the huge increase in the company’s stock price today, may mean that any weakness in the earnings reports on any single metric could result in a large overnight fall in the price of the company’s stock. Investors buying in at above $170 per share today will be nervous when viewing after market numbers; while the company’s report was good, it wasn’t good enough to guarantee success for the next twelve months.

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