Netflix shares soar after Icahn reports 10 percent stake Wed Oct 31, 2012 3:41pm EDT (Reuters) - Shares of Netflix Inc (NFLX.O) rose as much as 20 percent on Wednesday after activist investor Carl Icahn reported a stake of nearly 10 percent in the company, which offers subscriptions to watch movies and TV shows over the Internet and on DVDs. Icahn disclosed the stake in a regulatory filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. According to the filing, Icahn bought the shares because he finds them undervalued due to Netflix's "dominant market position and international growth prospects." "Netflix may hold significant strategic value for a variety of significantly larger companies that are engaging in more direct competition with one another due to the evolution of the internet, mobile ...," Icahn reported in the filing. Icahn said he was considering ways for Netflix to "maximize shareholder value." He may in the future have discussions with the company, the filing said. Netflix stock, which was trading 14 percent higher at $79.47 per share late on Wednesday afternoon, had reached $304 in July 2011. It slumped after the company imposed an unpopular price hike, faced new competition, and increased spending on content and an international expansion. Reporting by Liana B. Baker; Editing by Gary Hill