Netflix Shares Break Record Valuation

14 Feb, 2011 By: Erik Gruenwedel

Shares of Netflix Feb. 14 bounced more than 7% to an all-time high of $247.55 in mid-afternoon trading on news chipmaker Qualcomm is developing a streaming platform for Google-based Android smartphones, among other scuttlebutt.

Qualcomm made the announcement an international confab in Barcelona.

While Netflix would be the immediate winner, Qualcomm said the platform would enable any third-party streaming service (most likely Amazon in the near future) to offer subscription-based movies and TV program rentals.

The Android mobile phone platform is considered the second largest behind Apple’s iPhone.

Separately, Akamai was rumored to announce shortly a new country where it will provide backend technological support to Netflix’s Watch Now streaming service.
Akamai did announce an alliance with Ericsson to expedite implementation of a cloud-based entertainment platform.

Ericsson estimates there will be almost 5 billion mobile broadband subscriptions by 2016.

Netflix’s stock improvement prompted David Miller with Caris & Co. in Los Angeles to up his price target for the online DVD rental pioneer to $316 per share from $224.

Indeed, with the company’s shares trading at hyper-inflated levels for months, short-sellers (investors who bet a company’s shares will go down in value) have begun to revisit their strategies. Hedge fund manager Whitney Tilson, who’s reportedly been shorting Netflix since December, told CNNMoney.com that it had become “no longer wise to bet against Netflix.”