"The Crown" finale, "Money Heist" prequel to help boost Netflix - JPMorgan

Investing.com -- Netflix's (NASDAQ:NFLX) fourth-quarter content slate will help support the streaming giant's drive to speed up revenue growth next year and expand margins, according to analysts at JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM).

In a note to clients on Friday raising their share price target for the company to $510 from $480, the analysts said they are "encouraged" by several releases from Netflix during the current quarter, including the final season of "The Crown" and a prequel to the hit series "Money Heist."

They added that Netflix's strategy of charging customers in some countries a fee for extra member slots on their accounts has contributed to "two straight quarters of strong subscriber growth."

"[W]e expect those benefits to continue for several quarters," the JPMorgan analysts noted. "Paid Sharing [...] creates a pool of users who may not convert immediately, but who are very familiar [with] the service [and] may come back over time around more favorable seasonality, strong content, or other factors."

The analysts predicted that the next focus for California-based Netflix will be its push to increase the scale of its ad-supported subscription plans, which allow users to use the service at a lower price.

The so-called "ad tier" has 15 million global monthly active users, accounting for around 30% of all new sign-ups across markets where the option is available. However, the JPMorgan analysts flagged that advertising is trending "slower than expected," saying it is now a "top priority" to grow this segment of the business.

Netflix could look to enhance returns from the ad tier through a number of strategies, including price hikes for existing subscribers on its most basic plans or increased marketing, they argued.