Netflix surpasses Comcast in market value

Netflix surpassed Comcast in market value on Wednesday in a possible sign of consumers’ growing preference for video streaming services over traditional television subscriptions.

On Wednesday, Netflix ended the trading day with a market capitalization of about $152.8 billion, overtaking Comcast’s market value of $147 billion, as first reported by Bloomberg News. The streaming giant is very close to reaching Disney, which had a market value of $153.36 billion on Wednesday.

Netflix, the S&P Index’s best-performing stock this year, went up 3.95 percent on Wednesday while Comcast fell 1.94 percent.

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Wednesday’s events mark the second time that Netflix has overtaken Comcast in valuation but, according to Bloomberg, it’s likely the change will be more lasting this time.

Shares for Netflix were up 5 percent this week, a trend that began after former President Barack and Michelle Obama announced a multiyear production deal with the company on Monday.

Last month, Comcast announced it had lost more 96,000 video subscribers in the first quarter of the year alone.

Meanwhile, streaming services such as Netflix and Hulu continue to attrack more customers by offering original content in addition to their libraries of programming.

Comcast is currently preparing for an all-cash bid for much of 21st Century Fox in an effort to stop a deal between Disney and Fox.