Netflix's price hike tells us a lot about its subscriber numbers, analyst says (NFLX)

Reuters/Mike Blake

Netflix's price hike for US subscribers is a strong signal that its subscribers are growing strong, according to one Wall Street analyst.

The company on Tuesday said it's raising US prices by 13% to 18%, its biggest increase ever. As of January 15, Netflix's basic plan will see a $1 per month increase to $8.99 while its most-popular standard plan will jump to from $10.99 per month to $12.99. It's the fourth price hike over the past 5 years for Netflix's US product, but just the first hike for the basic tier. 

The price increase came two days before the streaming giant's fourth-quarter earnings release, prompting investors to speculate about whether the company's subscriber trends are strong enough to encourage it to raise price or too slow that it has to increase the price to offset the weakness. 

After Netflix raised its price globally in late 2017, subscriber growth continued to blow past Wall Street estimates. By Juenger's calculation, even as the standard plan increased to $12.99 per month, its users will still stick to the platform because of the value of the service. 

Juenger has an "outperform" rating $421 price target — 19% above where shares are trading Tuesday. Shares rallied 6% following the price-hike announcement.

And Eric Schiffer, CEO of the Patriarch Organization, a private investment firm agrees that Netflix's loyal consumers will embrace the price increase.

"This is not enough of an incremental price increase," Schiffer told Markets Insider. "That's not gonna horrify a large number of subscribers."

Schiffer added that the price hike provides Netflix an opportunity to raise cash for its content spending.