Netflix stocks closed a record $205.05 per share on Wednesday, raising the bar for the entire company.
The streaming giant credited their performance on the open market to investor enthusiasm, which they feel was particularly fueled by the recent release of Bright. The made-for-Netflix film was an instant success and showed that the power of their platform and influence aren’t diminishing.
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Netflix delighted fans and investors by announcing that they’d greenlit a sequel to Bright. Both Will Smith and Joel Edgerton agreed to reprise their roles for the second installment, and David Ayer has agreed to write and direct the sequel as well. Netflix reported a $90 million budget for Bright, though there’s no word on how much a sequel will cost and how much revenue they attribute to the original movie.
Before the day closed, Netflix stocks had been even higher, peaking at $206.21 per share. Even after it leveled out, the company‘s value had risen by 2 percent. That follows a 4.7 percent rise on Tuesday, which most believe came from a two market analyses that highlighted Netflix’s lead over competitor services.
Tim Nollen, of Macquarie research, wrote: “Netflix is miles ahead of peers,” adding specifically that Disney‘s proprietary streaming service “is still two years away and won’t threaten Netflix.” Many people consider Disney’s upcoming platform a threat to Netflix because it will take over all the Marvel properties once their contracts are up. However, analysts don’t seem concerned by this, nor does Netflix.
Netflix has announced plans to spend between $7 billion and $8 billion on content in 2018. Last year, a quarter of their spending went to the creation of original content, and they say that that percentage will only continue to grow.
