Disney vs Netflix vs Comcast Since 2015: The Streaming Wars, Priced
DIS · NFLX · CMCSA · Since 2015 · $1,000 split across each
In 2015, Netflix was the disruptor and the legacy media giants were supposed to crush it once they launched their own services. A decade later the scoreboard is not what the 2015 consensus expected. Charting the pure-play streamer against two legacy media conglomerates shows who actually captured the value of the transition.
This comparison is a caution against the tidy narrative. The obvious story was that Disney's content library and Comcast's distribution would win. The chart tells a different one, and the gap between the winner and the laggards is stark.
What the chart shows
Netflix won the decade it was supposed to lose
The pure-play streamer is the clear leader from a 2015 start, despite a brutal 2022 when the subscriber-growth story briefly broke. Netflix solved streaming economics before the legacy players did, and the stock reflects it.
Disney is the disappointment
Disney had the library, the brands, and a fast Disney+ launch, and still finished near the bottom of this group. Streaming losses, theme-park closures in 2020, and a stock that round-tripped its pandemic gains left it as the laggard over the window.
Comcast is the quiet middle
Comcast is the least glamorous of the three and finished in the middle. Its broadband business provided a floor that pure content companies lacked, but cord-cutting and Peacock losses capped the upside. Steady, not spectacular.
The 2022 Netflix drawdown was the head-fake
Netflix lost roughly three quarters of its value in the first half of 2022 when subscriber growth stalled. The market wrote the obituary. Password-sharing crackdowns and an ad tier reignited growth, and the stock recovered to new highs. Entry timing in 2022 changed the Netflix story enormously.
Frequently asked questions
Which streaming stock was the best investment since 2015?
Netflix, by a wide margin, on a price basis from a 2015 start. Comcast finished in the middle and Disney was the laggard. The interactive tool shows current figures for each.
Why Comcast and not Warner Bros Discovery?
Warner Bros Discovery in its current form only dates to the 2022 merger, so it has no clean 2015 comparable. Comcast (owner of NBCUniversal and Peacock) is the legacy-media conglomerate with a continuous 2015-to-present record on this site.
Did the legacy players lose the streaming wars?
On stock returns since 2015, yes, relative to Netflix. They successfully launched services and gained subscribers, but the cost of doing so, plus the decline of their legacy TV businesses, held the stocks back. The disruptor kept the lead.
What about dividends?
Comcast and Disney pay dividends (Disney suspended and later restored its); Netflix pays none. Including dividends would help Comcast and Disney modestly but does not close the gap to Netflix. These figures are price-only.
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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.