Evercore ISI has upgraded its price target on Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX), arguing that the streaming giant’s steep 2026 pullback represents a buying opportunity rather than a warning sign.
Analyst Kutgun Maral raised his price target on NFLX stock to $110 from $100, while reiterating a Buy-equivalent Outperform rating on the shares.
The new price target implies approximately 40% upside from where Netflix’s stock currently trades, a projection that signals strong conviction from one of Wall Street’s prominent research firms.
Maral told investors in a note to clients that the recent sell-off is a good opportunity to buy the stock, pointing to improving fundamentals and expanding content strategies.
The analyst highlighted Netflix’s big opportunity to capitalize on live events such as sports and short-form content such as video podcasts as key revenue growth drivers going forward.
Netflix’s household penetration in the U.S. has reached a high of 63% this year, according to Maral’s research, underscoring the platform’s continued dominance in the streaming landscape.
Live sports have been a particularly powerful growth lever, with the number of Netflix users who watched live sports climbing to 60% in September from just 42% in March.
The platform’s sports strategy is gaining traction internationally as well, with 45% of new Japanese subscribers signing up because of Netflix’s World Baseball Classic promotion.
Evercore cited improving consumer survey results in both the U.S. and Japan, along with potential growth opportunities from live programming and short-form video, as central pillars of its bullish thesis.
Netflix’s subscription base is divided between an ad-free tier and a cheaper ad-supported plan launched in 2022, with that ad-supported tier now among the fastest-growing segments of the business.
The company’s second-quarter revenue reached $12.56 billion, representing a year-over-year increase of 13.37%, with management targeting a 31.5% operating margin for the full year, up from roughly 27% two years earlier.
Netflix is scheduled to report third-quarter results on October 20, which will serve as the first significant test of Evercore’s bullish call and investor confidence in the company’s advertising and live content strategies.
Investors will be watching closely whether ad revenue and margins continue growing at the rate the company’s management has promised, given how much of the bull case depends on those two factors delivering.
The stock’s recovery from its recent lows remains vulnerable to slowdowns in live sports engagement or advertising momentum, risks that potential buyers should weigh carefully before taking a position.
