Analyst Downgrades: Netflix, Inc., salesforce.com, inc., and Square Inc

Analysts downwardly revised their ratings and price targets on Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX), salesforce.com, inc. (NYSE:CRM), and Square Inc (NYSE:SQ)

Josh Selway

Aug 29, 2016 at 9:38 AM

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Analysts are weighing in on streaming media stock Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX), cloud concern salesforce.com, inc. (NYSE:CRM), and payment processing specialist Square Inc (NYSE:SQ). Here's a quick roundup of today's bearish brokerage notes on NFLX, CRM, and SQ.

NFLX is down 0.5% at $97.13, after Axiom Capital initiated coverage with a "sell" rating and an $80 price target -- territory not explored since February. "Netflix is now seeing heightened competition for both subscribers and content licensing primarily from Amazon, Hulu, and HBO, and several other online streaming services," the brokerage firm explained in a note. It's been a turbulent year for the stock, which was trading at $114.38 at the end of 2015, meaning it's down 15% year-to-date, despite a recent push higher. Meanwhile, short-term options traders remain decidedly call-skewed, based on Netflix, Inc.'s Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 0.74, which is just 1 percentage point from a 12-month low.
RBC trimmed its price target on CRM to $91 from $92, but maintained its "outperform" rating. The brokerage note has barely impacted the stock, though, which is off just 0.2% at $79.87 -- still a hair above its 2016 breakeven mark. Today's price-target reduction aside, Wall Street is firmly in salesforce.com, inc.'s bullish corner. By the numbers, 24 analysts say the stock is a "strong buy," while zero call it a "sell." We'll see how this optimism holds up in the days ahead, as the company is scheduled to report earnings on Wednesday night.

SQ has inched 0.1% higher at $12.06, despite a downgrade to "neutral" from "buy" at BTIG. Even after a solid few weeks on the charts, the stock remains in negative year-to-date territory, and still hasn't filled its bear gap from early May. As such, some bearish traders are piling on. Specifically, short interest on Square Inc increased by 6.5% in the latest reporting period, and now 11.4% of the stock's float is sold short.

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