Netflix Shares Climb As Bank Of America Upgrades To Buy

Netflix Inc. shares rose 2% in premarket trade Tuesday, after Bank of America Merrill Lynch upgraded the stock to buy from underperform, citing the streaming TV company's long-term subscriber and earnings potential given a fast-growing portfolio of original content. "We believe its strong original content library will extend the U.S. saturation point, fueling long-term sub growth in an enormous international market, and fend off competitive threats from other services," analysts led by Nat Schindler wrote in a note. Netflix is now available in more than 50 countries and has a total addressable market (TAM) of about 330 million broadband connected households, excluding the U.S., said the note. That TAM could be as big as 480 million excluding China as the company finishes its international rollout in the next few years, it said. BofA raised its price target on the stock to $722 from $350. Shares have gained 62% in the year so far, while the S&P 500 has gained 2.7%.