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Netflix is now worth more than Comcast
- phoe-krk 8y agoThis zeitgeist is exactly what cable companies still try to fight against. We no longer need content to be served whenever someone streams it; we need content available whenever we want to access it. For this, we no longer need cable companies; we need internet service providers.
- AdmiralAsshat 8y agoHence why the cable companies are trying to buy ISP's and vice-versa.
- lkbm 8y agoFunny. I think of Comcast as an ISP. I know they provide cable TV, and do everything they can to upsell/bundle it with their Internet access, but to me they're just an ISP. I just checked, and it seems revenue-wise they're still more TV than Internet, but the trend is towards Internet revenue, and in subscriber-count, it flipped in 2015. I'm guessing, though, that the ISP revenue won't grow a ton, whereas the TV revenue will continue to drop.
- scarface74 8y agoThey are more "TV" because they own NBC. They also make money by licensing content to among other companies - Netflix.
- thisisit 8y agoComcast has 15 billion in net income last quarter whereas Netflix had 185 million. And PE ratio of comccast is 19 whereas Netflix is 188. In the future where the cord cutting trend continues and Netflix gains tons of subscribers the valuation might make sense. But for now, I feel this looks like very overvalued.
- josefresco 8y agoI'm not sure "cord cutting" will help Netflix as much as some may thing. Netflix is already a very popular service, and one that many subscribe to alongside their traditional cable TV service. The new batch of streaming "live TV" providers are the ones looking at massive growth. I do think Netflix will benefit indirectly as people break their "addiction" to traditional TV - but it's not a replacement for live TV (yet) Does Netflix have a "live tv" strategy? Hulu currently offers one (although I ended up dropping it due to their hobbled DVR)
- organsnyder 8y agoSounds like a good time to buy Comcast stock, and/or short Netflix stock. I'm no fan of Comcast (I've been trolling my city's building permit listings, drooling over the small fiber providers inching closer to my neighborhood), but they do still own a ton of physical infrastructure, as well as a massive IP library. Netflix has branding and momentum on their side, but they're also in a much more fragile position.
- bytematic 8y agoThat might make sense from a mathematical perspective but something still needs to drive the price up or down, fundamentals alone don't always.
- solarkraft 8y agoAll I know about Warren Buffet's investing is that he takes a lot of time to come up with a sane, realistic valuation of a company. It seems to have worked for him.
- VikingCoder 8y agoEating manure has 15 billion in net income last quarter, whereas this new "filet mignon" had 185 million. Just because people are currently eating shit a lot doesn't mean the outlook for them is any good.
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- justherefortart 8y agoBuy them out, please!
- wufufufu 8y agoWhat's more shocking to me is that Netflix is worth more than Disney. Just look at the list of Disney subsidiaries[1], then look at how bad the average Netflix original movie is and then tell me if the market caps makes any sense at all. [1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_assets_owned_by_Disney https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_assets_owned_by_Disney
- bytematic 8y agoI love netflix but have never seen one of their original movies, happy to see them made but that isn't the point of Netflix
- butterfi 8y agoI'm puzzled by your comment about 'the point of Netflix.' It seems myopic to think that they should limit themselves to simply serving up others peoples content. I would imaging the point of Netflix is to be the most success company they can be.
- fetus8 8y agoIt seems incredibly short sighted too! Buy the rights to streaming a show that someone else made could, and probably tends to be far more expensive than producing your own in house content... Plus I do genuinely believe that Netflix has been successful in creating new interesting, quality content and partnering with a variety filmmakers. Some of their docu-series have rivaled HBO's Documentaries!
- eckmLJE 8y agoI believe that creating original content that attracts subscribers (the HBO model) is what Netflix is trying to make one of the main points of Netflix.
- monocasa 8y ago> but that isn't the point of Netflix It'll increasingly be as the other content producers feel threatened by Netflix and balkanize their content into their own services. Netflix has to convert to more of an HBO model where they have their own quality originals that bring eyeballs, and they're already on their way towards that.
- butterfi 8y agoTraditional TV cut its own throat by expanding commercial air time to the point where customers are actively looking for and consuming alternatives. Rather then address the issue of why traditional TV is being rejected, Comcast is trying to coerce its members into subsidizing TV by making their subscription bundles more competitive then simply getting an internet connection. That won't do much in the long run as people like me start refusing to pay for those extra services (TV, phone). I've already dropped Comcast for Sonic for some for these reasons. If I was in charge of a TV network, I'd start dropping the amount of ad time during programming and start adding more time to my hit shows. I know there is an ecosystem that makes this challenging, but would you rather spend you life bailing out the water or would you rather just fix the boat?
- sykh 8y agoWhat Comcast doesn't mention is that when you get a TV bundle to save on internet costs the fees they tack on for TV increase the monthly bill by around 40% of the advertised rate. Bundling TV is actually more expensive when you look at the total bill but people buy according to the advertised rate vs. the actual bill.
- adrr 8y agoThey all do it. "Add cable to your internet connection plan for $10." Then at checkout they tell you about the $9 sports fee, the $15 local channel fee and the $5 news fee. Deception pricing is becoming all too common. Hotels with resort fees, cable with channel fees, mobile providers with number portability fees. All never included in advertised priced
- rconti 8y agoThere's no way that's true unless you live in a really messed up market, taxation-wise. Here in the SF bay area I have gigabit internet through comcast and allow them to shove their "basic" cable TV service in my general direction (it's not even hooked up) because it 'saves' me $5 or $10 or whatever per month on my internet charges. (All I know is the total bill is $144 which is less than the advertised rate of $169 for Gigabit, but I've been through this excercise many times in the past 5 years, where I try to get JUST internet, and they offer me tv+internet for $5 or $10/mo cheaper; last time I didn't even ask for the full numbers) Fees: Broadcast TV Fee $8 FCC Regulatory Fee: $0.08 Franchise Fee: $2.01 PEG Access Support: $0.55 Local Utility User Tax: $1.55 State Sales Tax: $0.23 So, $12.42 in taxes and fees, only $8 of which is clearly related to broadcast TV (and here I'm assuming I don't pay that fee just by being a subscriber to a cable company, even if I get internet-only). I plan on calling sometime soon to clarify, but I've done it many times, and it never saves me a penny.
- shmerl 8y agoAll the more reasons to enforce Net Neutrality, to ensure that Comcast won't start ripping Internet users off with caps and zero rating, to compensate for declining TV user base.
- yalogin 8y agoYeah, I wonder how long till the backlash on Netflix is going to start. It will happen.
- arbitragy 8y agoComcast has an EV (Enterprise value: Debt + Equity or the 'real' acquisition value of the business) of ~210b versus ~155b for Netflix.
- otakucode 8y agoIt would make total sense for Netflix to be worth more than Comcast. They provide a worthwhile service while Comcast does not. Netflix provides content, even producing some itself. Comcast does nothing but media distribution. A clever 12 year old can do global media distribution on their free time for free. And do it better than Comcast and other large corporations can. They built their empires when distribution was the hardest problem in the economy by solving that problem. Now, it's one of the most worthless problems to solve. It is right and proper that they shrink, fade, and die. If not for their stranglehold on municipal telecom infrastructure born by government favors, they would have been eliminated long ago.
- stcredzero 8y agoIn 2018, why the heck is it that I can't click on something to indicate, "I want to watch this," then I get a notification when it airs, and have a list of shows/events now available to watch? If media companies want their advertisements to be worthwhile, why don't they get their act together and do this? The answer is that they will try to implement this only for their own company, and this will fail. Such a thing could only succeed with a standard that everyone used.
- toephu2 8y agoIt is the year 2018, and indeed most DVRs do already provide this functionality...
- stcredzero 8y agoSure, but the fact that I have to be tethered to an expensive optional device my living room, subject to a particular walled garden to get not even the full range of this functionality is pretty backwards. Why can't I just see a random ad or review somewhere on a web browser or on my phone and have that? The fact that I'd need a DVR and that it would only work for one company's systems is backwards considering the wealth of infrastructure that already exists.
- paul7986 8y agoHoping here in the US 5G brings all of us more home broadband options whether through Verizon Wireless, ATT or T-Mobile/Sprint. We desperately need other options besides just Comcast!
- dsr_ 8y agoThen go talk to your city or county about building a community ISP. Competition is the number one driver of higher quality and lower prices.
- Justsignedup 8y agoEven if this is true without scrutiny... Netflix literally relies on comcast for infrastructure.