Netflix price target lowered to $500 from $550 at Evercore ISI

Evercore ISI lowered the firm’s price target on Netflix to $500 from $550 and keeps an Outperform rating on the shares. The firm is lowering its estimates and target in the wake of recent management comments at an investor conference and very recent ad channel checks, the analyst tells investors. The firm believes that three specific management comments – the company saying it intends to grow operating margins “more gradually” than 3% a year going forward; stating that the advertising revenue business is still in the “crawl of the crawl, walk, run stage;” and that the Hollywood strikes are “bad for business” – helped triggered a 10%-plus stock tradeoff over the past week, the analyst explains. In addition, the firm’s latest channel checks show Netflix having “a supply – not a demand – problem,” but the analyst believes this will be addressed over time.