Apple Inc. (AAPL): Is This Netflix, Inc. (NFLX)’s iPhone 5 Moment?

Two months ago, analysts thought Apple would earn as much this fiscal year as it did in fiscal 2012. Now those same pros don’t even see Apple earning as much in fiscal 2014 as the consumer-tech giant earned last year. Netflix estimates are going in the other direction.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s iPhone 5 peak came when an onslaught of competition was on the way. New Android, Windows, and even BlackBerry devices have blurred the marketplace. Netflix, on the other hand, has no real competitor. There’s no other service approaching a billion hours of streamed content, and Netflix’s lead will continue to grow as it keeps parlaying the revenue being generated by more than 33 million global subscribers into more licensing deals.

That doesn’t mean Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) investors can rest easy. The stock could take a hit from these heights based on valuation concerns. Apple was never expensive by valuation metrics. It was the graying fundamentals that tripped it up. Netflix isn’t exactly cheap these days, even if you back out the operating losses overseas.

However, until we can see the ceiling for Netflix’s model — and we don’t appear to be there just yet — it would be premature to expect a post-Arrested Development collapse. A correction? Sure. A full-blown Bluth calamity? No way.

The article Is This Netflix’s iPhone 5 Moment? originally appeared on Fool.com and is written by Rick Munarriz.

Longtime Fool contributor Rick Munarriz owns shares of Netflix. The Motley Fool recommends and owns shares of Apple and Netflix.

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