If there's one major Internet company that may be threatened by a court ruling striking down net neutrality, it's Netflix.

On Tuesday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia sided with Verizon and struck down key portions of the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Open Internet rules, which mandated that broadband providers treat all web traffic the same.

The ruling could open the door for providers like Verizon and Time Warner to charge bandwidth-heavy websites more to deliver their content to users. If this happens, businesses that serve video — services like YouTube, Hulu and Amazon Prime — would be hit hardest. And Netflix is by far the largest in terms of bandwidth, accounting for nearly a third of downstream Internet traffic in North America.

Michael Pachter, an analyst with Wedbush Securities, estimates that Netflix could incur annual fees of anywhere from $144 million to $936 million as a result, according to an investor note provided to Mashable, depending on how much broadband providers charge for data delivery.

The news appeared to cause Netflix investors to start sweating. Netflix stock ceded some ground after the ruling on Tuesday, but experienced a sharp decline Wednesday, dipping by as much as 5% in early trading. That decline is all the more notable considering that the S&P 500, which lists large market cap companies including Netflix, hit an all-time high Wednesday around the same time.

Netflix declined to comment on the ruling, but referred us to a statement from the Internet Association, which represents Internet companies including Netflix. Though vague, the statement essentially urges the FCC and policymakers to assert leadership.

"The Internet Association supports enforceable rules that ensure an open Internet, free from government control or discriminatory, anticompetitive actions by gatekeepers," the statement reads. "We look forward to studying the D.C. Circuit’s opinion and working with the FCC and policymakers on the Hill to protect Internet freedom, foster innovation and economic growth, and empower users.”

Tom Wheeler, the chairman of the FCC, suggested in a separate statement online after the ruling that the agency would work to make sure that public interest is not undermined. "We will not disregard the possibility that exercises of economic power or of ideological preference by dominant network firms will diminish the value of the Internet to some or all segments of our society," he wrote.

"It was a blow, but there's still a lot of variables to play out," Tony Wible, an analyst with Janney Capital Markets, says of the ruling and its impact on Netflix. "The FCC can still go back to the drawing board and find some way of tackling this issue [though] I'm not confident of that."

Even if the FCC doesn't take action, some analysts argue that basic market forces will prevent Internet service providers (ISP) from imposing heavy fees on Netflix or other bandwidth intensive businesses.

"The only reason I'm paying for $100 broadband is so I get access to those bandwidth-heavy applications," says Rich Greenfield, a media analyst with BTIG. "The scales are balanced: if the ISPs damage Netflix, that will hurt the ISPs themselves."

He adds: "It's like putting a gun to your own head. Nothing stops the ISPs from hurting Netflix, but why don't you blow your own brains out? It's illogical."

Image: Netflix