Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) Should Hold Against Hulu Competition

While a lot has been made of the launch of Hulu Plus recently as it relates to the effect it could have on (NASDAQ:NFLX), overall, it should only nibble around the edges of the company, and not have much, if any, impact on their bottom line.

Barclays (NYSE:BCS) said, "The official launch of Hulu Plus yesterday at a lower price point of $7.99 and with a more aggressive subscriber acquisition program around free trials and referrals represents some increased competition for NFLX at the margin, but we do not believe it is a substitute for NFLX in its current format...Hulu has also broadened its distribution through a range of CE devices including the PS3 (NYSE:SNE), Samsung & Sony TVs/Blu-ray players, Apple's iPad (Nasdaq:AAPL), iPhone, and iTouch, & the Xbox 360 (Nasdaq:MSFT) early next year."

"We maintain our rating on NFLX shares as we believe near-term earnings upside will be curbed by higher content costs and we expect more competition in subscription streaming. But to impact NFLX's sub growth, a competitive offering would need to be very low priced, provide broad access to content, and perhaps leverage an existing user
base and/or other products."

Netflix closed Thursday at $168.33, rising by $1.65, or 0.99 percent. Barclays has a price target of $140 on them, and maintains their "Equalweight" rating.