Which was the better investment since 2015, Disney or Netflix?

Netflix was the better investment. $1,000 invested in Netflix in 2015 would be worth $11,313 today, compared to $1,162 for Disney.

What would $1,000 in Disney vs Netflix be worth today?

$1,000 invested in Disney in 2015 would be worth $1,162 today (+16.2%). The same $1,000 in Netflix would be worth $11,313 (+1031.3%).

How do Disney and Netflix compare to the S&P 500 since 2015?

The same $1,000 invested in the S&P 500 in 2015 would be worth $4,521 today (+352.1%). Disney returned $1,162 and Netflix returned $11,313 over the same period.

Disney vs Netflix: $1,000 invested since 2015

DIS vs NFLX · Data through 2026-06-01

Investment amount

$1,000 invested in 2015 would be worth

Disney

$1,162

+16.2%

NetflixWinner

$11,315

+1031.5%

The same $1,000 in the S&P 500 would be worth $4,521(+352.1%)

Growth of $1,000

Disney vs. Netflix vs. S&P 500, 2015 to present

Year-by-year comparison

Disney vs. Netflix, 2015 to present

Year	Disney	Return	Netflix	Return	S&P 500
2015	$1,000	-	$1,000	-	$1,000
2016	$1,066	+6.6%	$1,455	+45.5%	$991
2017	$1,250	+17.2%	$2,229	+53.2%	$1,189
2018	$1,247	-0.3%	$4,283	+92.1%	$1,502
2019	$1,300	+4.2%	$5,379	+25.6%	$1,466
2020	$1,631	+25.5%	$5,468	+1.6%	$1,780
2021	$1,984	+21.6%	$8,435	+54.3%	$2,086
2022	$1,686	-15.0%	$6,768	-19.8%	$2,570
2023	$1,280	-24.1%	$5,607	-17.2%	$2,359
2024	$1,137	-11.2%	$8,938	+59.4%	$2,845
2025	$1,350	+18.8%	$15,476	+73.2%	$3,591
2026	$1,362	+0.9%	$13,228	-14.5%	$4,178

Which came out ahead

From a $1,000 stake at the start of 2015, Netflix (NFLX) came out ahead of Disney (DIS). That $1,000 grew to $11,313 in NFLX versus $1,162 in DIS as of 2026-06-01, about 9.7x the ending value.

Stacked side by side, the totals tell the same story. Netflix returned +1031.3% against Disney at +16.2%, a gap of about 1015.1 percentage points over the 11.6-year window. Compounded, that is about 23.3% a year for NFLX against 1.3% for DIS.

Netflix cleared a plain S&P 500 fund over the same span while Disney fell short of it. The index would have grown that $1,000 to about $4,521, compounding near 13.9% a year. The ride was not equally smooth. Netflix moved across a far wider band of yearly returns than Disney did. All figures use split-adjusted closing prices and exclude dividends, taxes, fees, and inflation, so a real after-tax result would differ.

This is a record of what already happened, not financial advice or a recommendation of either name. Past performance does not guarantee future results.

Other start years

Disney vs Netflix from a different starting point

Since 2005 Since 2010 Since 2020 Since 2023

Individual stock pages

Disney since 2015+16.2%Netflix since 2015+1031.3%

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For informational and educational purposes only. Not financial advice. Past performance does not guarantee future results. All calculations are based on split-adjusted closing prices from Yahoo Finance and do not account for dividends, taxes, or trading fees. See our methodology and full disclaimer.