The team, whose members include Facebook (NASDAQ:FB), Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN), Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) and Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) benefited greatly from the COVID 19 pandemic as men and women sheltering into position used the products of theirs to shop, work as well as entertain online.

During the previous 12 months alone, Facebook gained 35 %, Amazon rose 78 %, Apple was up 86 %, Netflix discovered a 61 % boost, along with Google’s parent Alphabet is actually up thirty two %. As we enter 2021, investors are asking yourself if these tech titans, optimized for lockdown commerce, will achieve very similar or even better upside this year.

By this particular group of 5 stocks, we are analyzing Netflix today – a high performer during the pandemic, it is now facing a unique competitive threat.

Stay-at-Home Appeal Diminishing?
Netflix has been one of the strongest equity performers of 2020. The business and the stock benefited from the stay-at-home environment, spurring demand because of its streaming service. The stock surged about 90 % from the minimal it hit on March 16, until mid October.

NFLX Weekly TTMNFLX Weekly TTM
Nonetheless, during the past 3 weeks, that rally has run out of steam, as the company’s primary rival Disney (NYSE:DIS) gained a lot of ground of the streaming fight.

Within a year of its launch, the DIS’s streaming service, Disney+, today has more than 80 million paid subscribers. That is a significant jump from the 57.5 million it reported to the summer quarter. That compares with Netflix’s 195 million subscribers as of September.

These successes by Disney+ arrived at the identical time Netflix has been reporting a slowdown in the subscriber growth of its. Netflix in October reported that it included 2.2 million members in the third quarter on a net schedule, short of its forecast in July of 2.5 million brand new subscriptions for the period.

But Disney+ isn’t the sole headache for Netflix. AT&T’s (NYSE:T) WarnerMedia division is within the midst of an equivalent restructuring as it is focused on the new HBO Max of its streaming platform. Also, Comcast’s (NASDAQ:CMCSA) NBCUniversal is actually realigning its entertainment operations to give priority to the new Peacock of its streaming service.

Negative Cash Flows
Apart from growing competition, what makes Netflix more vulnerable among the FAANG class is the company’s tight cash position. Given that the service spends a great deal to create the extraordinary shows of its and shoot international markets, it burns a good deal of cash each quarter.

to be able to enhance the money position of its, Netflix raised prices due to its most popular plan throughout the final quarter, the second time the company has done so in as many years. The action might possibly prove counterproductive in an environment wherein folks are losing jobs and competition is warming up. In the past, Netflix price hikes have led to a slowdown in subscriber development, particularly in the more mature U.S. market.

Benchmark analyst Matthew Harrigan last week raised similar concerns into the note of his, warning that subscriber advancement might slow in 2021:

“Netflix’s trading correlation with various other prominent NASDAQ 100 and FAAMG names has now obviously broken down as 1) trust in the streaming exceptionalism of its is actually fading somewhat even as two) the stay-at-home trade could be “very 2020″ even with some concern about how U.K. and South African virus mutations can have an effect on Covid 19 vaccine efficacy.”

The 12-month price target of his for Netflix stock is actually $412, aproximatelly twenty % below the present level of its.

Bottom Line

Netflix’s stay-at-home appeal made it both one of the best mega hats as well as tech stocks in 2020. But as the competition heats up, the company should show that it is still the high streaming choice, and it’s well-positioned to defend its turf.

Investors appear to be taking a rest from Netflix stock as they delay to see if that will occur.