“Democratizing Creativity”: Netflix Stock (NASDAQ:NFLX) Notches Up Despite New AI Threat

Ask any artist around what they think of artificial intelligence (AI) getting involved in art, and you will likely be treated to a stream of invective so harsh it will melt whatever plastic is within three feet of the artist in question. Streaming giant Netflix (NFLX) may be about to see for itself just what this could mean, and its shares notched up fractionally in the closing minutes of Wednesday afternoon’s trading despite a substantial new threat.

The threat in question comes from Alphabet (GOOG), who revealed a potentially potent new tool that could answer a lot of prayers and doom a lot of people to the unemployment line. The tool in question is called Flow, and it turns making videos into a much, much easier enterprise. Users feed a prompt into Flow, suggesting dialogue, describing characters, environments and the like, and Flow gives back a video of the request. Reports suggest the output looks a lot like a Pixar movie.

Naturally, opinions are divided on what this means. For some, it is the dream of a lifetime; to be able to take a current script that would otherwise never see publication—or even just something as simple as a few bits and pieces—and turn it into a viable movie. But for Netflix, meanwhile, it has the potential to crumble the entire operation. If something like Flow gets good enough, and cheap enough, that anyone can use it and make the shows or movies they’ve always wanted to see, then what is the point of turning to Netflix for shows?

News From the Upfront

That, however, is a future development. For something much more present-day, we have word about Netflix’s upfront, in which it presented its upcoming slate to potential advertising buyers. And, since Netflix has put a lot into its ad-supported tier system, Netflix needs advertisers on its side now more than ever.

Netflix’s upfront reportedly earned an “A” grade from Variety, which used the standard grading system you would typically find on a child’s report card. Highlights from the show included the teaser for Black Rabbit, featuring Jude Law and Jason Bateman, and the realization that the final season of Stranger Things was going to be the “biggest bet” that Netflix is putting on a show for the entire upfront, though not without reason. Though Netflix had an upfront that was about the same length as a feature film—around 80 minutes—it still had plenty of information and news, which appealed.

Is Netflix Stock a Good Buy Right Now?

Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Moderate Buy consensus rating on NFLX stock based on 29 Buys and 10 Holds assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 86.12% rally in its share price over the past year, the average NFLX price target of $1,188 per share implies 0.55% downside risk.

See more NFLX analyst ratings

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