I was looking forward to some big news from Netflix (NFLX) this week that might propel the stock higher… I just wasn’t expecting it on Tuesday. Netflix is releasing earnings this Thursday, January 17th, but this morning they also announced their largest price increase since launching their streaming service 12 years ago. Wall street seems pretty pleased with the news, as the stock has jumped up 5-6% as a result. That’s just enough of a boost to knock Netflix up to a Babylon 5 level holding in the Freedom Portfolio. For those who have been keeping track, this is the first time the Freedom Portfolio has had 2 Babylon 5 level holdings at the same time and the first time a non-Amazon (AMZN) company has been a Babylon 5 level holding. Congratulations are definitely in order for the best lifetime performer in the Freedom Portfolio, even if it is always a little bittersweet since Netflix has also been my biggest investing mistake.

While I’m thrilled with the share price increase, I’m a little more concerned than wall street. Competition in the streaming space is heating up with NBC now announcing an offering, Hulu hitting impressive subscribers milestones, rumors of Apple entering the space continuing to fly, and, oh, by the way, Disney (DIS) is coming. Wall Street seems to be assuming this price increase won’t hurt their subscriber count. I’m not so sure. Netflix used to be a no brainer for my wife and I, but with them losing more and more content that we took for granted and there being other subscription services that we are also interested in subscribing to, we’re being forced to re-evaluate.

The one good thing that I am taking away from this, though, is that I am more confident that their earnings release on Thursday is going to be pretty good. If they were seeing anything concerning regarding subscriber growth, I can’t imagine they would be trying to push through a price increase, let alone this big of one. Hopefully Netflix can have their subscribers and… eat them too? Maybe that wasn’t the best analogy to use.