Netflix Now Has More Market Value Than Disney

Thursday was a big day for streaming giant Netflix. The company has officially surpassed Disney as the biggest pure media company in the world by market value.

Netflix, which is the best performing stock in the S&P 500 this year so far, has 125 million subscribers as of the end of the first quarter.

Analyst Nat Schindler of Merrill Lynch thinks this is just the beginning too.

“We believe Netflix still has a considerable opportunity ahead if it can achieve reasonable penetration levels internationally,” said Schindler in a note to clients last week.

“Netflix will face varying levels of competition, regulation and economic conditions in each individual market it participates in, but its content scale should allow it to become the dominant streaming player in virtually all markets.”

According to the analyst, Netflix’s subscriber base can grow 8% a year through 2030 to get to 360 million members.

Netflix is the best performing stock in the S&P 500 so far this year. Its shares are up more than 80 percent through midday Thursday, while Disney’s stock is down about 5 percent.

Disclaimer: We have no position in Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) and Walt Disney Co. ( NYSE: DIS) and have not been compensated for this article.