Why Netflix Stock Topped the Market Today

Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX) stock got off to a good trading week on Monday, outpacing many other companies on the exchange. On the back of several positive analyst notes, the streaming giant's stock closed the day over 2% higher, more than double the percentage-rate gain of the bellwether S&P 500 index.

Here come the bulls

Netflix reported its second-quarter earnings Friday morning and -- at least initially -- investors rewarded it by pushing it up in price early that trading session. That gratitude rally didn't really last, although it probably should have; the company notched a convincing beat on earnings, and edged past the average analyst estimate for revenue. This was on the back of an impressive gain in Netflix's all-important subscriber count.

The following business day, a clutch of analysts tracking the stock made upward revisions on their Netflix takes.

On Monday, this included Baird and ever-influential Citigroup . Of the two, the former has been (and remains) more bullish on Netflix's future. Baird analyst Vikram Kesavabhotla added $30 per share to his price target on the stock, for a new tally of $730. He maintained his outperform (buy) recommendation as he did so.

Citigroup's Jason Bazinet isn't as excited by Netflix's prospects, as he didn't budge from his neutral recommendation. He did, however, raise his price target to $675 per share from the preceding $660. He did acknowledge that his forward estimates for the company were adjusted "modestly higher."

The timing could have been better

Netflix had the misfortune of reporting those solid earnings at a time when investors were spooked about tech titles generally. There are growing concerns about the resilience of the tech sector following the recent CrowdStrike outage, among other developments. However, it's clear by its recent performance that Netflix is doing a fine job maintaining its dominance atop the streaming video food chain.

Citigroup is an advertising partner of The Ascent, a Motley Fool company. Eric Volkman has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends CrowdStrike and Netflix. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy .