Trading Nation

History says Netflix is set to rally 52 percent, according to one technical analyst

Trading Nation: Netflix soars post-earnings
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Trading Nation: Netflix soars post-earnings

Netflix's 19 percent stock gain a day after its earnings report could go even higher, according to Rich Ross, head of technical analysis at Evercore ISI.

According to Ross, a familiar pattern has formed in the charts that could well point to further gains.


Examining a three-year chart of Netflix, Ross said Tuesday on CNBC's "Power Lunch" that Netflix has been in a trading range since mid-2015 that looks very similar that from late 2013 to early 2015.

The stock "moved sideways there for almost 18 months," saw a pullback nearing its 100-week moving average in the beginning of 2015, and then saw a "massive" breakout that sent the stock much higher — from hovering around $50 in January to soaring over the $80 level in May.

"If we are able to surmount that $130 high-end resistance of that well-defined trading range, you could project another $50 of upside for that stock," Ross said. "I'm not telling you it goes there overnight, I'm just saying above $130, this stock can go meaningfully higher, and we do think in the short- to intermediate-term, you do get a test of that $130 level."

A $50 run from $130 would take the stock up to $180 — a 52 percent rise off of Tuesday's closing price.

On Monday afternoon, Netflix reported earnings of 12 cents, versus 6 cents according to analysts polled by Thomson Reuters. Subscriber growth came in above expectations, with 370,000 net memberships added in the U.S. and 3.2 million internationally, surpassing forecasts of 2.3 million new subscribers.

The huge stock run on Tuesday was largely driven by the reversal of bets against the stock, according to Dennis Davitt, chief investment officer at Harvest Volatility Management.

"It's not very well liked by a lot of people," Davitt said Tuesday on "Power Lunch." "There's a good amount of short covering going on."

"The professionals were in there buying this stock before the market opened, hoping to get in front of whatever mistake they had made," Davitt added.

Netflix's 19 percent gain on Tuesday was its best daily performance since 2013, when it rose over 24 percent on April 23.