Netflix (NFLX) ad-tier subscriptions reach 23 million monthly active users. Also in the streaming landscape, Redburn Atlantic analysts downgrade Paramount Global (PARA) stock to a "Sell" rating, while also downgrading Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) to "Neutral"
Shares of Canadian fashion brand Aritzia (ATZAF) surges after topping sales expectations and receiving an upgrade from CIBC.
Yahoo Finance anchors Julie Hyman and Josh Lipton break down the action surrounding these stocks while monitoring the performance of spot bitcoin ETFs that have begun trading on Thursday.
For more expert insight and the latest market action, click here to watch this full episode of Yahoo Finance Live.
JOSH LIPTON: Tickers, we're going to start here with Netflix today. Let's see. Those shares higher today. All right, nice pop, 3% after the company says it surpassed 23 million global monthly active users for its ad-based plan.
So that was the headline, Julie. And this is per comments made by the company's president of advertising speaking at CES. She also stressed not just the numbers, but it was interesting she highlighted engagement, which we know is often music to any marketer's ears.
Of Netflix's customers on ad-supported plans, more than 85% streaming on the platform for two hours or more per month. And just to put these numbers in context, recall about two months ago Netflix said its ad supported tier had about 15 million monthly active users.
JULIE HYMAN: I mean two hours--
JOSH LIPTON: So fit for pop--
JULIE HYMAN: Two hours or more per month, that's not very much-- I mean, that's a low bar.
JOSH LIPTON: Yeah, two hours or more per month.
JULIE HYMAN: Right?
JOSH LIPTON: I don't know how that stacks up with others. I'm not sure.
JULIE HYMAN: I mean, like how much Netflix do you watch in a month?
JOSH LIPTON: Well, listen, I got a four-year-old who loves--
JULIE HYMAN: Disney+, how much--
JOSH LIPTON: Yeah, so I don't know.
JULIE HYMAN: How much Disney+--
JOSH LIPTON: I don't know. It's a fair point. I don't know how that chalks up with others. I'm not sure.
JULIE HYMAN: That just strikes me, that particular measure. Meantime, Citi on the back of these numbers coming out with a note today pointing out the acceleration in adoption now, Citi is still a neutral on Netflix, we should point out. But they've got a $500 price target, but that update definitely caught their eye as well.
I did want to mention, not only do we get that news on Netflix, but we're watching the media sector more broadly here today. And that's because Redburn Atlantic actually downgraded Paramount Global to sell and Warner Brothers Discovery to neutral and said linear advertising is at a negative tipping point, which is not what you want to hear if you rely on linear advertising.
JOSH LIPTON: Yeah, that was-- the issue is just that it's kind of a negative tip point. I mean, I guess his point was to his clients was he thinks it hits both names, but Paramount more, which is why he went in that direction with that.
JULIE HYMAN: Right. And then, of course, we still have the whatever is happening with Paramount or National Amusements, the parent company of Paramount. "The New York Post" reporting today that Shari Redstone is now going to be having a formal auction process not for Paramount, but for National Amusements, the parent company. So that M&A speculation game is ongoing.
JOSH LIPTON: Exactly right.
JULIE HYMAN: Yeah. All right, let's talk about Aritzia as well. This is a Canadian apparel chain. Shares soaring more than 20% in today's trading. The company reporting third quarter earnings sales beating expectations, prompting at least one analyst upgrade. CIBC upgraded its rating on Aritzia to an outperform, while also lifting its price target on the stock.
This one caught my eye, I got to admit, because it's not one that we talk a lot about. But it was trending on our ticker page today, so that's reason one. Reason two is I know a lot of people who shop at Aritzia. It's really expanded its US presence in the past several years.
And I was trying to explain to you, Josh, where Aritzia sits in the retail women's apparel universe. And I said it's sort of like fast fashion, but on a Banana Republic budget. Like it's fast fashion that sort of follows those trends, but it is pricier than a Zara or an H&M. It's at a considerably higher price point than those various chains.
JOSH LIPTON: Yeah, they might like the styles, but the stock has been rough. I mean, it lost about half its value in 2023 and it's still down really hard in the past 12 months. Though we should mention, lots of love on the Street for this one.
JULIE HYMAN: Well, I guess after it's fallen so much, maybe they're coming back in--
JOSH LIPTON: That could be part of it.
JULIE HYMAN: --and they're saying OK, we like it.
JOSH LIPTON: That and it's pricing.
JULIE HYMAN: So we did see-- we did see that upgrade from CIBC today. It looks like Raymond James also upgraded the stock today as well and said, there are still concerns, the folks over at Raymond James. There are still concerns about inventory gross margins. And we had a mild fall and winter, so people weren't as motivated to buy to go out and refresh their winter sweaters, for example. But that Aritzia is attacking these issues.
JOSH LIPTON: And apparently new styles coming in the spring.
JULIE HYMAN: OK.
JOSH LIPTON: So if you know people who are interested in this name, get ready.
JULIE HYMAN: All right.
JOSH LIPTON: All right, moving on, investor appetite for crypto we know has been tested today as the first Bitcoin ETFs began trading following approval from the SEC. BlackRock's ETF was the most actively traded today with more than $761 million worth of shares changing hands, that's according to Bloomberg.
JULIE HYMAN: Yeah, so let's talk about some of those others that we have been watching over the course of the day, right? So caveat that we should mention when we are looking at all of these various spot Bitcoin ETFs and obviously there were a suite of them that were trading today. The one, by the way, that did not start trading as a spot Bitcoin ETF that we've been talking about is Hashdex. Remember, we talked to Samir Kerbage the chief investment officer, the other day. That one has not yet converted from a futures ETF to a spot ETF.
The rest of them are indeed trading. And when you look at the trading prices on our platform, it's the trade with the exception of Grayscale, which existed before. It's the first trade to now.
That's the price, that's the percentage change that we are looking at for these. And they all also track the price of Bitcoin in different ways. So some of them are-- like Grayscale, for example, is thousandth of the price of Bitcoin, but the others are priced differently.
JOSH LIPTON: Yeah, I'm very interested from here what competition looks like in this space.
JULIE HYMAN: Yes.
JOSH LIPTON: There's a lot of big names. I'm interested to see how that shakes out. I'm curious how the ETF issuers try and distinguish themselves, how they kind of market themselves.
JULIE HYMAN: Yes.
JOSH LIPTON: What do they think their competitive advantage are? I thought it was very interesting with Cathie Wood told you there the kind of story she's telling.
JULIE HYMAN: Yes.
JOSH LIPTON: And then how-- the price of Bitcoin from here and how these new products and vehicles in any way kind of influence and impact that.