5 Worst-Performing S&P 500 Stocks in 2022

2. Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX)

Year to Date Return as of September 16: -59.65%

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 95

On July 19, Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) announced earnings for the fiscal second quarter of 2022. The streaming services giant reported revenue of $7.97 billion and missed expectations by $63.85 million. The company also reportedly lost roughly 1 million subscribers in Q2 2022. As of September 16, Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) has lost 59.65% year to date.

On September 14, Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) announced that it expects 4.4 million unique users of the company’s ad-supported tier of Netflix, by the end of 2022. The company is forecasting 40 million unique subscribers of its ad-supported plan in 2023, of which 13.3 million are expected to be from the United States.

On September 16, Citi analyst Jason Bazinet raised his price target on Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) to $305 from $275 and reiterated a Buy rating on the shares.

At the close of the second quarter of 2022, 95 hedge funds disclosed ownership of stakes in Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX). The total value of these stakes amounted to $4.72 billion, down from $9.70 billion in Q1 2022 when 109 hedge funds held stakes in the company. The hedge fund sentiment for the stock is negative.

As of June 30, Fisher Asset Management is the largest investor in Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) with stakes worth $1.14 billion. The investment covers 0.81% of Ken Fisher’s 13F portfolio.

Here is what asset management firm, Militia Capital, had to say about Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) in its second-quarter 2022 investor letter:

“A few investors asked me specifically about the Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) bet.  I broke even since I trimmed a lot at $650, bought more at $375, and then sold it all at $440 when the price spiked on news that Bill Ackman bought shares.  I got lucky even if there was some skill.  I couldn’t even fully explain my trades – a detailed explanation would be post hoc nonsense.  The likely answer is that I subconsciously absorbed many market patterns and just dodged the bullet in time.

Last quarter Netflix guided to losing 2 million subscribers.  This came out of nowhere.  Not a single bear predicted anything like this.  This is catastrophically bad if it means that Netflix will shrink from here.  I don’t think so and I got long again.  How could Netflix management know they are going to lose those subscribers in April unless it’s part of their plan to prevent account sharing, which wouldn’t really be such bad news.  If Netflix either starts growing again, or if they have lots of untapped pricing power and maintain their subscriber base, shares will rapidly go to $300+.  On the other hand, if they lose 2 million subscribers and guide to higher attrition, Netflix might drop another 50%…” (Click here to view the full text)