We're not saying that providing trenchant and accurate financial analysis of any business is easy, but we are saying that William Power over at Robert W. Baird is making it look way harder than it has to be.
Power watches Netflix for Baird, and in that capacity he told CNBC that he has some concerns about subscriber growth at the company your mom still rents DVDs from...
"We have done a survey every year and it suggests looking at the first quarter that penetration in the U.S. held relatively flat," William Power, analyst at Robert W. Baird, told CNBC on Monday. The company reports earnings after the bell Monday.
And reputed Netflix "expert" William Power has a theory about why this is happening...
A decline in the number of hit shows is another reason analysts have a less-than-positive outlook on the stock. In an increasingly hit driven space, Power says Netflix hasn't done as good of a job rolling out popular content last quarter.
"Last year, Making a Murder and House of Cards were huge hits. Look at the first quarter there weren't any huge new hits relative to a year ago," he said.
Umm, it seems like we can safely assume that Power hasn't found time in his busy schedule to watch the masterpiece that is "The Crown." Apparently Power is so busy being critical of Netflix's weak roster that it is literally impossible for him to enjoy the slow pacing and sumptuous settings of the best thing to happen to old people since Cialis. Or maybe Baird has a policy against ingenious writing that brings the past to life? Does Power have an allergy to great costumes or low-stakes family drama stretched across like 10 episodes? What did John Lithgow do to William Power other than be a genius?
Monitoring Netflix is not a job that one should take lightly, William Power. You can't just watch "Stranger Things" or "Daredevil" and then pretend there's nothing else on. We don't want to be rude, but you're acting like a real Princess Margaret over there.
Disclosure: The author owns no shares of NFLX, and he has yet to be told that almost no one actually watched "The Crown."
One Wall Street bank worries that Netflix's subscriber numbers will be disappointing [CNBC]
