Netflix reaches record share price, surpasses Disney market cap

Netflix’s share price has struck a record high amid the Covid-19 pandemic, with the company surpassing the market cap of Disney for the first time.

On the morning of April 14, Netflix’s stock rose to an all-time high of $430.00, beating its record of $418.97. This left the company with a market cap of $188bn, slightly higher than Disney’s value of $186bn.

Disney’s stock has been positively affected by the number of signups to its Disney+ streamer, but that has not been enough to offset the costs of the shutterings of its theme parks and the shelving of its cinema releases.

Without those drags on its business, Netflix has been able to make the most of the current climate in lockdown with investor interest in the company skyrocketing.

This is expected to continue, predicts Pivotal Research Group analyst Jeffrey Wlodarczak, who told Variety that the stock could rise as high as $490. He said: “We believe the unfortunate Covid-19 situation is cementing Netflix’s global dominance.”

The research firm also expects that Netflix will exceed its 7 million signup target for the quarter, with the streamer initially forecasting for an addition of 7 million global subscribers. Pivotal instead predicts that Netflix will announce an increase of at least 8.45 million new users when it announces its quarterly results next week.

Amazon’s stock has also been reinforced by the stay-at-home culture, with its share price similarly reaching a record high of $2,260 to give it a market cap of $1.1tr.