Netflix Currently Worth More Than Disney After Stock Hits All-Time High

April 16, 2020

Variety is reporting that streaming giant Netflix is worth more than Disney after Netflix’s shares hit an all-time high on Wednesday. Netflix has a current market capitalization of $187.3 billion, putting it just above Disney’s $186.6 billion. Netflix’s stock, extending its three-day rally, closed up 3.2%, to $426.75 per share.

Netflix’s previous all-time high closing stock price was $418.97 on July 9, 2018. The streamer is scheduled to report first-quarter 2020 earnings on Tuesday, April 21, after market close. The outlet notes that analysts expect Netflix to gain more than the previous forecast of total paid net adds of 7.0 million worldwide. Investors are likely expecting Netflix to benefit from the current pandemic as millions of people remain under stay-at-home orders.

Pivotol Research Group is now expecting the streamer to net 8.45 million new subscribers for Q1. Analyst Jeffrey Wlodarczak raised his price target on the stock from $425 to $490 per share, saying: “We believe the unfortunate COVID-19 situation is cementing NFLX’s global [direct-to-consumer] dominance partly driven by the incremental content spend that is enabled by their massive and growing subscriber base.”

In contrast, Cowen & Co. estimates overall 7.1 million net new Netflix paid subscribers for the first three months of 2020. Lead analyst John Blackledge, who raised the price target on Netflix’s stock from $425 to $445 per share, wrote: “We expect a strong [quarter] driven by a solid slate of originals coupled with a captive audience due to the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Streaming has been booming during the quarantine as the U.S. has seen viewing of internet video on TVs up 109% in March 2020 compared with the comparable four-week period in 2019, according to Nielsen. Amazon’s shares also closed at an all-time high on Tuesday, setting a new record Wednesday after climbing up 1.1%.