Meet the best-performing stock in the S&P 500 this year. Netflix is up a gobsmacking 97% in 2013 alone. Much of that came on Jan. 25, the day Netflix earnings turned a whole host of cynics into believers as it posted better-than-expected subscriber growth in its video-streaming business. Here’s a look at the shares going back to the start of 2012.
The saga of Netflix over the last decade has created one of the more bizarre-looking stock charts in recent memory. It effectively shows two booms in the share price, separated by only about a year. As a bit of a reminder, Netflix shares suffered an epic collapse between Jul. 13, 2011—when they etched a high-water closing price of $298.73—to Nov. 25, when the stock was at $63.86. The collapse of nearly 80% was seemingly set off by a somewhat sudden pricing change the company announced, angering customers. The stock then continued to fall, at a somewhat saner pace. But here we are, only a few months after Netflix hit its recent low of less than $54 in late September, and the shares have tripled since then. Go figure.
