Sell Netflix: analyst

Pippa Stevens
Updated
Sell Netflix: analyst

The street is divided when it comes to Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX).

The stock had a wild run in 2015 that saw shares surge 142%.

But this year has been a different story.

The stock has been stuck in the red -- two quarters of lackluster subscriber growth and increasing competition from Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) and Alphabet's (NASDAQ: GOOGL) YouTube have sent shares tumbling 14%.

While some -- most notably RBC Capital Markets' Mark Mahaney -- see a buying opportunity in the pullback, others believe the Los Gatos-based company's record run may be over.

Today Axiom Capital's Victor Anthony initiated coverage on Netflix with a sell rating. He joined the "Halftime Report" experts and "Mad Money" host Jim Cramer to discuss why he's bearish on the stock.

Anthony's case against Netflix focuses on three key areas: rising competition, diminishing pricing power, and increasing content costs.

He believes these factors will ultimately hurt the streaming site's targets for the future since they will put "pressure on Netflix's ability to meet consensus longer-term subscriber growth and profit estimates."

Netflix bears have been raising concerns over competition for a while. But Anthony believes the threat is now becoming more and more "real."

Competition is now "impacting subscriber growth, it's putting upward pressure on content cost for Netflix, and you're starting to see that in the results," he said on the "Halftime Report."

Anthony believes Hulu poses the greatest threat to Netflix, although he believes Amazon and Alphabet's YouTube will also increasingly take market share away from Netflix.

Netflix bulls point to international growth as a reason to buy the stock.

But Anthony notes that international expansion also comes with its own costs.

Many foreign countries require Netflix to host content from the home region, which Anthony believes could add "upward pressure for Netflix to license local content."

Trader disclosure: On August 29, 2016 the following stocks and commodities mentioned or intended to be mentioned on CNBC's "Halftime Report" were owned by the "Halftime Report" traders:

Joe Terranova: Long VRTS

Sarat Sethi: Long AA, AAL, AAPL, AL, ACN, BWA, CSCO, DAL, DGI, DLPH, F, FB, GE, GM, GOOG, HAR, HON, INTC, JWN, LB, M, MAS, MSFT, NVDA, QCOM, SJM, UAL, V, WFM, XPO, YHOO, YUM

Jon Najarian: Long Stock: CSX, GSAT, INO, XON. Long Calls: AAPL, CDE, CXO, DLPH, GIS, GLD, GPRO, HFC, HOLX, KATE, LC, LVS, MRO, MSFT, NFLX, PAAS, SLW, SQ, TASR, TCK, TWTR, WLL, WYNN, VLO

Pete Najarian: Long Stock: AAPL, BAC, BMY, DIS,DISCA, GE, KMI.A, KMI, KO, LUX, PEP, PFE, TGT, VIAB. Long Calls: AAL, ABT, AKS, AMD, BAC, CIT, CNX, COP, CSCO, CRM, DAC, DISH, DVN, EGO, ETP, FSLR, FXI, GLD, GT, HALO, KGC, KO, LLY, MT, MU, NEM, P, PG, SBUX, SLV, SLW, SYMC, TGT, TMUS,TTS, TWTR, UA, VRX, XLE. Puts: CLF, EEM, MBLY, MRO, PII



More From CNBC

  • Top News and Analysis

  • Latest News Video

  • Personal Finance