Despite improved streaming data in its first-quarter earnings results, Netflix's (NFLX) stock plunged as investors fretted about the company's future.

Netflix's ability to continue growing profits will depend on how it differentiates itself from the competitors gaining strength. These competitors include Amazon (AMZN), Dish Network's (DISH) Blockbuster, Comcast's (CMCSA) Xfinity Streampix, Hulu and others.

A big part of this differentiation is going to be content, and Netflix shed some light on its content strategy during its recent earnings announcement. Below are some points worth noting:

Content costs will climb

There is no doubt that Netflix will continue to spend on content aggressively. There is no room for slack, given the increasing competition domestically and short window of opportunity that exists in international markets before local competitors start springing up. Netflix is going to launch in another undisclosed international territory toward the end of 2012.

Exclusive content has value

There is a clear move toward exclusivity. This comes from regular contracts as well as from original programming. The company has stated that it will try and get more exclusive content to fight off competition.

Original programming is part of this strategy and currently forms less than 10% of total content spending. Exclusivity implies higher price, and couple this with the increasing number of bids from deep pocketed competitors, Netflix will inevitably continue to spend high on content acquisition.

Netflix, however, believes that in terms of cost per hour of viewing, it should be able to produce original programming at similar rates at which it currently acquires content. This perhaps means that the company is expecting higher amount of viewing for its original programming.

Tiered pricing

Netflix has no plans for tiered pricing and the same streaming content will be available to all customers for the same price. As the amount of original programming increases, the question that arises is whether or not it will take up a notable portion of subscriber's share of prime-time TV viewing?

We think this is far off and unlikely in the near future, but if at some point it happens, it will be a cause for concern for advertisers. The issue will ultimately percolate down to how content companies manage their content, and this could drive up the cost of content further.

Our price estimate for Netflix stands at $110, implying a premium of about 25% to the market price.