The FAANG group of mega cap stocks produced hefty returns for investors during 2020. The team, whose members consist of 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 individuals sheltering in position used their products to shop, work as well as entertain online.

Of the older 12 months alone, Facebook gained 35 %, Amazon rose 78 %, Apple was up 86 %, Netflix saw a sixty one % boost, and Google’s parent Alphabet is up 32 %. As we enter 2021, investors are actually thinking if these tech titans, enhanced for lockdown commerce, will achieve very similar or much more effectively upside this season.

By this particular number of 5 stocks, we’re 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 probably the strongest equity performers of 2020. The business and the stock benefited from the stay-at-home atmosphere, spurring demand because of its streaming service. The stock surged aproximatelly ninety % from the reduced it hit on March sixteen, until mid October.

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Nevertheless, during the past three months, that rally has run out of steam, as the company’s key rival Disney (NYSE:DIS) acquired a lot of ground of the streaming battle.

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

These successes by Disney+ emerged at exactly the same time Netflix has been reporting a slowdown in its subscriber growth. Netflix in October found that it added 2.2 million members in the third quarter on a net basis, short of its forecast in July of 2.5 million new subscriptions for the period.

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

Negative Cash Flows
Apart from growing competition, the thing that makes Netflix more vulnerable among the FAANG team is the company’s small money position. Because the service spends a lot to create its extraordinary shows and shoot international markets, it burns a great deal of money each quarter.

In order to improve its cash position, Netflix raised prices due to its most popular program during the very last quarter, the next time the company did so in as several years. The action could prove counterproductive in an environment where individuals are losing jobs and competition is heating up. In the past, Netflix price hikes have led to a slowdown in subscriber growth, especially in the more mature U.S. market.

Benchmark analyst Matthew Harrigan last week raised similar fears in his note, 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 one) belief in its streaming exceptionalism is actually fading somewhat even as two) the stay-at-home trade could be “very 2020″ in spite of some concern over just 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, about 20 % below the current level of its.

Bottom Line

Netflix’s stay-at-home appeal made it both one of the greatest mega hats and tech stocks in 2020. But as the competition heats up, the business enterprise needs to show that it is the high streaming option, and it is well-positioned to protect its turf.

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