NEEDHAN AND CO was the fourth Wall Street brokerage in two months to cut its rating for Netflix Inc on Tuesday, arguing competition from new streaming services could lead to the loss of 4 million premium U.S. subscribers next year. Needham analyst Laura Martin, who downgraded the California-based tech giant to "underperform", believes Netflix will have to add a lower priced service to compete with competitors including Apple Inc's Apple TV+ service and Walt Disney Co's Disney+. Netflix's video streaming push has seen subscriber numbers dwarf those of rival services at the cost of huge investment in both regional and international content on its platform. The streaming service had 60.62 million paid subscribers in the United States as of its latest quarter ended Sept. 30, accounting for over a third of its global subscriber base. Netflix shares, which have been under pressure this year, fell 2.6% to $294.50 in trading before the bell on Tuesday.

Source: New Strait Times December 10, 2019 12:11 UTC