Netflix, Inc. (NFLX) stock is back on a steady upward march on Wednesday after ending Tuesday in the red. The year started with a rerun of the rumor about Apple buying Netflix, but analysts who are truly bullish on Netflix stock see plenty of other reasons to buy it despite the nosebleed valuation.

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Too much noise for Netflix stock?

In a note on Wednesday, MKM Partners analyst Rob Sanderson reiterated his Buy rating and $245 price target for Netflix stock, advising investors not to overthink things when it comes to the streaming firm. He feels that all the talk about competition, consolidation in the media space (due to Walt Disney's pending acquisition of Twenty-First Century Fox's entertainment assets), and net neutrality are nothing but noise.

However, he also said that such talk has created a buying opportunity for Netflix stock again, just as it did during the fourth quarter. Nonetheless, he feels that the company is a long-term investment with a case that's “actually quite simple.”

Why Netflix stock?

For example, he pointed out that internet TV is much cheaper, and with lower prices comes higher demand. He noted that over-the-top streaming TV brings much cheaper distribution than pay-TV and argued that the user experience is better as well. He also explained that it the compression of “one layer of content aggregation and the associated margin” enables Netflix and other over-the-top streaming providers to offer prices that are much lower than pay-TV prices for a product that's arguably much better.

He also noted that Netflix has been able to expand globally because it rides on the Internet, while pay-TV providers can't do that because it depends on them having a local presence and facilities in every single market. Further, he said that owning global licensing for content allows for “amortization of programming budget across many more homes,” adding that a larger content budget shared across a huge user base creates an even better value proposition for everyone.