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UBS doubles down on Netflix as traditional cable TV rivals cut new content budgets

Analysts hiked their price target by nearly 30%, pointing to stronger viewership, ad growth, and global momentum.

Nia Warfield

UBS is going all in on Netflix, maintaining its buy rating and hiking the stock’s price target to $1,450 from $1,150 as the streaming giant continues to dominate the post-cable landscape.

The firm cited how traditional TV viewership continues to slide, down 13% in Q1, and competitors are slashing scripted shows, with just 10 new series across major networks this year. Meanwhile, Netflix is ramping up, debuting about 30 new titles and grabbing more viewer share.

Global viewership is pacing up 10% this quarter, led by international hits like When Life Gives You Tangerines and The Eternaut. UBS sees that momentum building as final seasons of big-name series like “Squid Game” and Stranger Things arrive later this year. 

Netflix topped both earnings and revenue estimates in Q1 and added a record number of subscribers, though it will no longer report those numbers. UBS now expects 2025 revenue to rise 14% and operating income to grow 24%, outpacing the company’s own forecast. With traditional players pulling back, analysts say Netflix is well positioned to keep monetizing — and winning.

Netflix shares are up 38% year to date.

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Retail traders are “skipping the dip” this time

Here’s one noteworthy feature of the recent market downturn that has the S&P 500 poised for its worst week since reciprocal tariffs were announced in early April: retail traders seemingly aren’t eager to buy the weakness in single stocks the way they used to be.

JPMorgan strategist Arun Jain has flagged that retail traders instead appear to be “skipping the dip.”

“In contrast to the behavior observed during the post-Liberation Day selloff, retail investors did not seize the opportunity to buy-the-dip on Tuesday, with a few exceptions such as META,” he wrote of the day where the benchmark US stock index fell 1.2%. “In fact, they scaled back their ETF purchases and turned net sellers in single stocks.”

Then on Thursday, when the S&P 500 fell 1.1%, Jain projected that retail traders sold $261 million in single stocks. Through noon ET on Friday, his daily outflow estimate stands at $851 million.

With that intel, it’s little wonder why the carnage this week has been particularly intense in more speculative single stocks that had been favored by the retail community, including IREN, IonQ, Rigetti, Cipher Mining, Bloom Energy, and Oklo.

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Archer Aviation plunges on $650 million share sale following its third-quarter results

Air taxi maker Archer Aviation is deep in the red on Friday morning after reporting its third-quarter results after the bell Thursday. The stock is down more than 12%.

Investors don’t appear to be thrilled about the company’s $650 million direct stock offering, announced alongside its results.

The move marks at least the third major equity raise, and dilution, for Archer this year. The company raised $300 million from a new stock sale in February, and sold $850 million worth of shares in June.

On Archer’s earnings call Thursday, interim CFO Priya Gupta said the company came to the decision after “substantial inbound interest.” According to Gupta, the company has heard from government and commercial partners that liquidity is a “key driver to their decisions of who to partner with.” With its latest share sale, Archer said its total liquidity is more than $2 billion.

The move marks at least the third major equity raise, and dilution, for Archer this year. The company raised $300 million from a new stock sale in February, and sold $850 million worth of shares in June.

On Archer’s earnings call Thursday, interim CFO Priya Gupta said the company came to the decision after “substantial inbound interest.” According to Gupta, the company has heard from government and commercial partners that liquidity is a “key driver to their decisions of who to partner with.” With its latest share sale, Archer said its total liquidity is more than $2 billion.

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