Traders Purchase High Volume of Call Options on Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX)

Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) saw some unusual options trading on Thursday. Stock traders acquired 765,409 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 114% compared to the typical daily volume of 357,092 call options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NFLX has been the topic of several analyst reports. Barclays reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $110.00 target price on shares of Netflix in a report on Friday, December 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Netflix in a research note on Thursday. Morgan Stanley set a $110.00 target price on shares of Netflix and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Piper Sandler reissued a “positive” rating and issued a $103.00 target price (down from $140.00) on shares of Netflix in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group set a $125.00 price target on Netflix and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-three have assigned a Buy rating, sixteen have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Netflix presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $119.36.

Netflix Price Performance

Shares of NFLX stock opened at $83.54 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $353.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.06 and a beta of 1.71. Netflix has a 12 month low of $81.93 and a 12 month high of $134.12. The company has a quick ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $96.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $111.60.

Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 20th. The Internet television network reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.01. Netflix had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 43.26%. The company had revenue of $12.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.97 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.43 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.6% on a year-over-year basis. Netflix has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 0.760-0.760 EPS. Research analysts expect that Netflix will post 24.58 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Netflix news, insider David A. Hyman sold 314,620 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $109.98, for a total value of $34,603,166.08. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 316,100 shares in the company, valued at $34,765,942.40. This represents a 49.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Reed Hastings sold 426,290 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.67, for a total value of $39,078,004.30. Following the transaction, the director owned 3,940 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $361,179.80. This represents a 99.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 1,653,599 shares of company stock worth $173,141,263 in the last 90 days. 1.37% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Netflix

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in NFLX. First Financial Corp IN lifted its stake in Netflix by 900.0% in the fourth quarter. First Financial Corp IN now owns 270 shares of the Internet television network’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 243 shares during the period. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. raised its position in shares of Netflix by 885.2% in the 4th quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 266 shares of the Internet television network’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 239 shares during the period. Imprint Wealth LLC bought a new position in Netflix during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new position in Netflix during the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, MB Levis & Associates LLC increased its stake in Netflix by 177.8% in the fourth quarter. MB Levis & Associates LLC now owns 300 shares of the Internet television network’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 192 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Key Netflix News

Here are the key news stories impacting Netflix this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 beat and subscriber momentum — Netflix narrowly beat estimates for Q4 revenue and EPS and highlighted strong content (e.g., “Stranger Things”) driving engagement. Helped by ‘Stranger Things’ finale, Netflix lands strong fourth quarter
• Positive Sentiment: Scale: ~325 million paid subscribers — reinforces Netflix’s dominant user base and revenue runway. 325 Million Reasons to Buy Netflix Stock Today
• Positive Sentiment: Ad business is ramping — management said advertising revenue is material and growing, improving monetization beyond subscriptions. Netflix’s advertising strategy shift is starting to pay off
• Neutral Sentiment: All‑cash WBD bid — Netflix amended its offer to all cash (same headline price), which removes share‑swap uncertainty but concentrates the financing burden on Netflix. Netflix Just Upped Its Bid for Warner Bros. to All Cash
• Neutral Sentiment: Regulatory and process uncertainty — EU antitrust review and an active competing bid from Paramount raise the odds of a prolonged, uncertain outcome. EU to weigh Netflix, Paramount bids for Warner Bros at the same time
• Neutral Sentiment: Senate hearing on the WBD deal — co‑CEO Ted Sarandos is set to testify, adding political/regulatory visibility to the transaction. Netflix’s Sarandos to testify in Senate hearing on Warner deal
• Negative Sentiment: Softer near‑term guidance — Q1/2026 guidance came in below some Street expectations, which triggered the post‑earnings selloff despite the quarter’s beat. Netflix’s stock remains under pressure as investors balk at forecast and Warner Bros. acquisition
• Negative Sentiment: Buyback pause and added debt — Netflix paused share repurchases to preserve cash for the WBD offer and has arranged incremental debt, reducing near‑term shareholder returns and increasing leverage. Netflix Craters On Disappointing Guidance, Stock Buyback Pause
• Negative Sentiment: Margin pressure and higher content spend — Netflix plans to lift program spending, which could compress margins in 2026 even if it supports engagement. Netflix to boost program spending in 2026
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst target trims and insider selling — multiple firms trimmed targets after the print and insiders have been net sellers, adding to negative sentiment around valuation and capital allocation. These Analysts Slash Their Forecasts On Netflix Following Q4 Earnings

Netflix Company Profile

Netflix, Inc (NASDAQ: NFLX) is a global entertainment company that provides subscription-based streaming of films, television series, documentaries and other video content. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph and headquartered in Los Gatos, California, the company began as a DVD-by-mail rental service and introduced streaming video in 2007. Netflix later expanded into producing and distributing original programming, beginning notable original hits in the 2010s, and now operates a content production and distribution ecosystem alongside its licensing activity.

The company’s primary product is its on-demand streaming service, which can be accessed on a wide range of internet-connected devices and delivered through a suite of apps and web platforms.