Netflix, Inc. (NFLX) Price Target Raised By Goldman Sachs

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Analysts at Goldman Sachs Equity Research raised their price target, revenue, and profitability estimates for Netflix, Inc.(NASDAQ:NFLX) because they believed the company’s growing distribution ecosystem, international footprint, and content library is increasing its value to subscribers.

The research new price target for the shares of the company is $184 per share. Its revenue estimate is $4.346 billion, adjusted EBITDA is $276 million, GAAP EPS is $1.12 for the year 2013.

GS Netflix EstimatesThe analysts pointed out that the increasing value of Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) to subscribers results in a larger addressable market and higher ARPU over the long-term.

Goldman Sachs Group, Inc.(NYSE:GS) analysts believe that the number of “connected consumers” better defines Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX)’s addressable market than the number of broadband households in the U.S. The analysts cited that based on the estimate of SNL Kagan, the number of broadband households in the country was 84.2 million last year, and expected to increase to 98.6 million by 2017.

According to them, Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) 22.8 million average paid domestic streaming subscribers account for 27.1 percent of the total number of broadband households.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc.(NYSE:GS) explained that connected consumers, is a metric that represents a weighted average of the number of consumers in the U.S. accessing the internet via connected devices. It attempts to account how likely a consumer will become a subscription video on demand user.

The analysts also noted that the growth in streaming device ecosystem such as tablets, connected televisions, and game consoles drives the increase in the number of users beyond the previous standard of broadband households. They estimated that Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX)’s 132 million potential users in the U.S. will grow to around 206 million users within the next five years.

According to them, the online video streaming company is expected to leverage the increasing number of usage per household into higher streaming ARPU, which could drive its margin higher along with scaling content and international investment.

The analysts wrote, “We raise our 2013- 2015 E revenue and adjusted EBITDA 5 percent and 29 percent on average based on higher subscriber and margin growth. Based on this our 12-month price target goes to $184 from $125, based on an 85 percent/15 percent blend of EV/EBITDA ($174, 18X, 2014E) and M&A ($238, 2.5X, EV/sales).”

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