This chart helped boost Netflix shares on Monday, as Wall Street analysts predict a rebound from its slump last quarter

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This chart helped boost Netflix shares on Monday, as Wall Street analysts predict a rebound from its slump last quarter

stranger things

Netflix

"Stranger Things" season 3

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  • Shares of Netflix are on the rise after a new Bank of America Merrill Lynch Global Research report showed that mobile downloads of the streaming app lifted during the third quarter so far.
  • Mobile downloads of the Netflix app were up 18% year-over-year during the third quarter so far, thanks to the buzz around returning shows like "Stranger Things," the report showed.
  • The "significant reacceleration," as the report described it, came after Netflix missed subscriber targets during the second quarter.
  • Click here for more BI Prime stories.

The return of "Stranger Things" may have been a boon for Netflix's subscriber growth around the world, according to a new Bank of America Merrill Lynch Global Research report.

The Wall Street firm spotted an 18% lift year-over-year in mobile downloads of the Netflix app around the world, during the third quarter so far, according to a note published on Monday, which cited data from SensorTower.

The download growth was more dramatic quarter-over-quarter. Netflix app downloads were up 30% during the third quarter so far, with US downloads up 13% and the rest of the world rising 34%, the data showed.

Netflix total quarter-over-quarter download growth

Netflix Q3 2019 app download data BofA Merrill Lynch Global Research

SensorTower and BofAML Global Research

Total quarter-over-quarter download growth for the Netflix app, globally.

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The third-quarter estimates were based on download data through August 31. Netflix's third quarter closes at the end of September.

Shares of Netflix rose more than 2% during trading after the report was released on Monday. Trading was up around 1% at $292.60 on Monday afternoon.

The report came after Netflix missed big on subscriber targets around the world during the second quarter and lost subscribers in the US. The disappointing earnings report fueled fears that the streaming giant would struggle to compete with the new services on the way from Disney and Apple this year, and WarnerMedia and NBCUniversal next year.

The "significant reacceleration in [the third quarter]" app downloads was likely led by the return of "Stranger Things," according to the report, which highlighted a spike in downloads during early July, when the show's third season debuted.

Downloads in the US were up 6% year-over-year during the third quarter so far. In the rest of the world, downloads were up 21%.

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"Stranger Things" kicked off a slew of returning international originals like "Sacred Games," "Mindhunter," "Money Heist," and "Elite."

Netflix's third quarter closes on Sept. 30, and new seasons of "The Ranch," the Drake-backed revival of UK gang drama "Top Boy," and Ryan Murphy's Netflix debut "The Politician," are still to come.

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